Kelsey Lovelace
Kelsey Lovelace had an big freshman softball season for Calumet College of St. Joseph this spring.
The Columbus North graduate added another prestigious award last week when she was named the school’s Female Freshman of the Year.
Lovelace heard the news Thursday night when she got a notification that she was tagged by the CCSJ athletics page with the news release.
“I never had any idea that I was going to get it,” Lovelace said. “It was definitely really exciting, and it felt good because I put in a lot of hard work this year, and I just wasn’t expecting that I’d get that.”
Lovelace’s hard work last year paid off in a huge way. She tied the school’s freshman record for runs scored with 38 and tied the freshman record for RBIs with 35. She was one hit shy of tying the freshman record for hits with 52.
Lovelace also batted .340 with 12 doubles, six triples and a home run. The Crimson Wave finished the season 17-27.
The six triples placed Lovelace second overall in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, fourth overall in RBIs, tied for fourth overall in extra base hits and tied for fifth overall in doubles. In the NAIA, Lovelace finished seventh overall in triples and 34th overall in hits.
Lovelace made the CCAC All-Conference second-team and was named to the CCAC Tournament Team.
Lovelace also came up huge in the classroom. She made the Presidents List with a perfect 4.0 GPA for the year.
Lovelace hopes to keep the momentum going and turn the program’s tables around heading into her sophomore year of softball for the Crimson Wave next spring. She will return to CCSJ in mid-August to begin her first practices with the team.
“We lost some really good players (from last year), so it’s definitely going to hurt,” Lovelace said. “I think our freshman class coming in from what I’ve seen, I’m really excited to get to know them. They’ll be young, obviously, but I think they have a lot of talent and are definitely going to help our team out. I’m really excited. It’s going to be a good season. We’re going to be a younger team, but I think that could be super beneficial.”
