Columbus North huddles before playing Shelbyville in the North Sectional championship at the Southside diamonds, Friday, May 26, 2023.
Paige Grider | For The Republic
Heartache, emotion and tears.
That was the scene for Class 4A No. 2 Columbus North following another heartbreaking defeat to Shelbyville in the softball sectional final. In the end, the Golden Bears came up on the winning end to hand the host Bull Dogs a 5-2 defeat to end an incredible season.
North also was ranked No. 1 in the state and ranked No. 14 nationally by MaxPreps.
“We had a great year. It’s one of the best years in Columbus North softball history. We’ve never been that high. We’ve never been ranked in the United States,” North coach Ron McDonald said. “(Shelbyville) outplayed us tonight. They came to hit, and we just didn’t get that traction to come up and give them a game.”
The loss takes nothing away from what the Bull Dogs (25-2-1) accomplished this year. They tied the school record for wins in a season. However, the pain stings for many of the players, especially the senior class that only got to have three years due to the COVID pandemic wiping out their freshmen season.
“We had great years with our seniors,” McDonald said. “They had the most wins in school history in the three years. They set all the records. All of my kids have garnered every record there is in our books for Columbus North. I wish I could have went out on a better way. A lot of good teams have already went down in this tournament. There’s only going to be one team at the end that’s going to be happy. We were hoping it was us, but we didn’t make it that far.”
Shelbyville (20-8) went on the attack right on the first pitch when Mississippi State commit Kylee Edwards hit a double deep to left field. A sacrifice bunt advanced Edwards to third, and she then scored on a single from Addy Steineker to lead 1-0.
The Bull Dogs responded back in the bottom half of the inning when Kelsey Lovelace hit a one-out single, and then scored on a Maddi Rutan double to even the score at 1-1.
It became a pitchers’ duel for the next three innings with neither team getting a great opportunity to score. The Golden Bears stunned the Bull Dogs in the top of the fifth when Kali Laylock hit a shallow single to left field. After a flyout, Edwards was intentionally walked with first base open. Hailey Pogue made them pay when she smacked a double deep to right-center to plate the go-ahead runs to lead 3-1. Steineker then delivered an RBI-single to make it 4-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, North tried to build the momentum back on their side when Kaylee Cowan blasted a leadoff home run to left-center to cut the deficit to 4-2. The momentum became short lived when the next three batters were retired.
The Golden Bears put the nail in the coffin when Edwards doubled to lead off the inning and then scored on a Steineker single to add another insurance run.
Rutan pitched all seven innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts. Miley McClellan was 2 for 3, Rutan was 1 for 1 with a double and Cowan and Lovelace each were 1 for 3.
North had advanced to the final with an 8-2 semifinal win against Whiteland late Thursday night. The Bull Dogs broke open a close game with four runs in their final two at-bats.
North led 4-0 after four innings before the Warriors scored twice in the top of the fifth to cut the lead in half. The Bull Dogs then plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth and added one in the sixth.
Rutan threw a six-hitter and struck out 12. Josie Lemmons went 3 for 4 with a triple, and Kirsten Danford went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs.
Friday night also was the final game for McDonald, who is retiring from coaching. He took over the program in 2017 and took the team from a one-win season in his first year to one of the top teams in the state in a short period of time.
“We went from being that to one of the best teams nationally,” McDonald said. “It’s been a great ride. I hope I brought Columbus North back to prominence and I hope they stay that way for a while. I’m going to enjoy my retirement.”
