Columbus North coaches Bob Arthur, left, and Kaitlyn Rediker congratulate Emily Moore after completed her winning beam routine in the Gymnastics State Finals Saturday, March 12, 2022, at Worthen Arena in Muncie.
The Republic file photo
TJ Jarvis has coached travel baseball and softball for 20 years, and recently led a 13-and-under team to the USSSA national championship.
Now, he will get the chance to lead a high school softball team.
Jarvis was announced on Friday as the new softball coach at Columbus North. He replaces Ron McDonald, who retired after leading a rags-to-riches turnaround in the Bull Dog program.
“Obviously, I love the culture that coach built there, and I’ve always had a passion for the game,” Jarvis said. “So for me, it was a no-brainer.”
Jarvis, who also has coached basketball at Northside Middle School the past three years, was an assistant on McDonald’s softball staff at North the past two years. The Bull Dogs went 45-6-1 over those two years, including 25-2-1 with a Conference Indiana title this spring.
TJ Jarvis
North lost several key players from that team to graduation, but returns some young talent, led by senior shortstop Kelsey Lovelace. Jarvis’ daughter Morgan started in the outfield as a freshman.
“We’re going to be young,” TJ Jarvis said. “We have a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of great young ladies there with great families and great talent.”
Meanwhile, Bob Arthur is moving into a role as the sole head coach of North’s gymnastics team. Arthur has been co-head coach for all but one of the past 24 seasons and has been a gymnastics coach for 44 years.
Kaitlyn Rediker, who has been the co-head coach with Arthur the past two years, is expecting a baby in January and will not coach for at least this season. Sandy Freshour, who spent two decades as co-head coach with Arthur after being the lone head coach, will continue assisting with the program.
“As long as I’m having a good time, and I’m healthy enough to do it, I don’t see myself walking away unless someone is willing to come in and do it full-time,” Arthur said. “But I’m healthy enough to do it, and I still enjoy it. Ultimately, we went to groom someone to take the head coaching position permanently. I almost got the head coaching position by default. I was kind of the last man standing.”
The Bull Dogs are coming off a fourth-place team finish at the state finals. Most of that team returns, led by junior Reese Euler.
Arthur, who won the Jack Cramer Ideals of Athletic Competition Award in 2022, has been working with the returning gymnasts through the summer.
“We’ve just been going one night a week, and we’ve been going out to Victory to use the pits out there, so the girls can do the skills with a higher level of confidence,” Arthur said.
Both coaches’ formal appointments are pending approval of the BCSC school board.
“Both of these coaches are blessed to be taking over programs that are in championship-caliber conditions,” North athletics director Brian Lewis said in a news release. “Both of these coaches played key roles in building the success in these programs, and I know that these teams are in good hands as we transition to new leadership.”
