Columbus North’s players have a meeting in the circle during Friday’s sectional final against Shelbyville at Bloomington North High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
BLOOMINGTON — Columbus North had its opportunities Friday night, but its inability to capitalize kept it from winning a third consecutive sectional softball title.
Class 4A co-No. 10 Shelbyville made two first-inning runs stand up and held on for a 2-1 win over the 4A No. 6 Bull Dogs in the Bloomington North Sectional final, avenging a 2-0 regular-season loss at Columbus North.
“Talking to (Shelbyville coach) Mark (Hensley), I said, ‘This was a great game,’ North coach Ron McDonald said. “He said, ‘This is unbelievable that we have to be in the same sectional. Every game that we have, it’s always like this.”
The Bull Dogs (20-4) missed a golden scoring opportunity in the top of the first. Josie Lemmons led off with a walk, went to second on a fly ball and took third on a wild pitch. But when Kelsey Lovelace laid down a bunt in front of the plate, Lemmons got caught trying to get back to third, and the Golden Bears got a popup to end the inning.
“I should have called a suicide squeeze instead of a safety squeeze, and that cost us,” McDonald said. “That would have been a run, so that’s on me, that first inning.”
Kentucky recruit Karissa Hamilton then led off the bottom of the first with a home run to straightaway center for Shelbyville. North center fielder Taylor Hadley appeared to get her glove on the ball, but could not corral it. Mississippi State recruit Kylee Edwards then singled, stole second, went to third on a sacrifice and scored when the throw to first went into right field.
The Bull Dogs plated their run in the fourth. Kirsten Danford singled, Lillian Mackey reached on a fielder’s choice, and with two out, Rachel Cowan was hit by a pitch and Kalyee Cowan doubled to left-center, scoring pinch-runner Emalee Heafner.
Pitcher Maddi Rutan kept North in the game by pitching out of second-and-third, one-out jams in the fourth and fifth. Hadley made a diving catch in center against the leadoff batter in the sixth.
North’s last quality chance came in the sixth. Danford led off with a single, and with one out, Emalee Heafner sacrificed courtesy runner Kayden Hoeflich to second. But Shelbyville pitcher Cheyenne Eads came through with a strikeout to end that inning and set the Bull Dogs down in order in the seventh.
Danford finished 2 for 3 for North, which managed only three hits off Eads.
“We hit the ball,” McDonald said. “It just seemed like we just hit it to people. The kids played their heart out. We had highlight play after highlight play. The plays we made out there in the field were unbelievable.”
The Bull Dogs will return their battery and entire starting infield from Friday, but loses six seniors, including the three starting outfielders.
“Our seniors, that’s probably the best record of any senior group that’s ever went through North,” McDonald said. “They have less losses than any group we’ve ever had come through there.”
Before North and Shelbyville met, the Golden Bears had to finish their semifinal against Columbus East. Shelbyville led 8-2 in the bottom of the third inning when play was suspended because of lighting on Thursday night
When play resumed late Friday afternoon, the Golden Bears scored four more times in the third and went on to finish off a 12-2, five-inning victory.
The Golden Bears had jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings before the Olympians plated two in the top of the third. Shelbyville had scored one in the fifth before play was suspended.
“We definitely thought if we could keep putting the ball in play, good things would happen,” East coach Rusty Brummett said. “We have several girls in our lineup who can hit. That’s just a good team, and they play hard.”
Mackenzie Sigman went 2 for 2 with a double for the Olympians, who finished 8-17-1. Sigman and catcher Jessica Johnston are their only seniors.
“We’re losing two seniors,” Brummett said. “We have 10 kids back, and we have a good group coming in, so we’re pretty pleased with where we are, and we’ll just keep getting better.”
