Columbus North senior Kelsey Lovelace, third from right, signed a letter-of-intent Monday night to play softball at Calumet College of St. Joseph. She is joined by, from left, Kris Lobdell, mother Anne Dunham-Lovelace, Calumet coach Dave Lopez, step-mother Savannah Lovelace and father Kevin Lovelace.
It was Kelsey Lovelace’s night to shine Monday.
The Columbus North senior came through for the Bull Dogs in a huge way in the bottom of the sixth inning when hit blasted a two-run home run. That home run proved to be the difference when Brownstown Central’s rally in the top of the seventh came up short and North held on for the 5-3 softball victory on senior night.
Lovelace is the only senior on Bull Dogs this season, but she felt like a senior last year with the previous graduating class. It’s because they started their softball careers when the senior class last year lost their freshman season from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lovelace got her moment this season when she was honored with a ceremony before the game to celebrate with her teammates. Following the game, Lovelace put the icing on the cake of her night by having a college signing. She’ll be continuing her softball career at Calumet College of St. Joseph.
“It’s went so fast. This season has went by in the blink of an eye,” Lovelace said. “All of my old teammates came back tonight, and that meant the world to me. They were like a graduating class to me because I was a part of them.”
“She’s been our leader,” North coach TJ Jarvis said of Lovelace. “When you go to last year, these 15- and 16-year old sophomores that didn’t get a lot of varsity playing time last year, she’s done a good job of leading and teaching them the routine of what we’re doing. She’s been phenomenal for us this season. She’s been a great leader.”
The hits and runs were to tough for the Bull Dogs (8-9) the first four innings. It all came together in the fifth when Morgan Jarvis and Lovelace had leadoff walks to put them on first and second. A double steal occurred, and the throw to third went sailing past the third baseman, allowing Morgan Jarvis to come home to tie the score at 1-1. Payton Morris made her presence felt after returning from injury to smack a triple down the right field line to for a 2-1 lead. Miley McClellan then laid down a sacrifice bunt to plate the third run of the inning to extend the lead to 3-1.
North added two more runs in the next inning when Morgan Jarvis reached base on an errant throw to first. Lovelace then smacked her home run to make it 5-1.
Those extra runs were needed because Brownstown picked up two runs in the top of the seventh.
Kelsey Lovelace was honored as Columbus North’s lone senior at the Bull Dogs’ game against Brownstown Central on Monday.
Lovelace was 1 for 2 with a home run, and Morris was 1 for 3 with a triple for the Bull Dogs, who were outhit 6-2.
Morris started the game in the circle and went six innings, giving up one run on three hits with nine strikeouts. Bailee Scruggs came on in relief to close out the game in the seventh.
North is back to full health again, and hopes to carry the momentum into Tuesday’s key Conference Indiana matchup with Bloomington South. If the Bull Dogs win, they earn a share of the title with Terre Haute South.
“Having everybody back healthy, it’s just a big momentum builder. We had everybody (play) out of position recently,” Lovelace said. “Having Peyton back and Destinee (Allman) back is huge because we’re more confident and in the positions that we fully know how to play.”
