Kailey Selvage is riding her arm to a college softball career at DePaul.
But the Shepard senior can hit a little, too.
Selvage went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, a double, three runs batted in and a stolen base in a 10-0 shutout of Providence on March 26.
“Hitting is definitely fun,” Selvage said. “I’m going to miss that in college. But it is really fun, and I love it. I do really love it.”
Fresh off an 18-strikeout performance against Homewood Flossmoor, Selvage was dominant once more against the Celtics.
Providence came out aggressive in the first inning, and Selvage surrendered her only two hits allowed in the game. The reigning South Suburban Red Player of the Year ended the inning on one of her eight strikeouts and finished the day with five shutout innings.
Selvage committed to the Blue Demons softball program on Nov. 19. The Astros are no stranger to supplying players to DePaul as 2016 grad Skylor Hilger played for the Blue Demons from 2017-2021.
During her impressive junior season, Selvage felt added pressure to make sure she was playing at a certain level. That caused some anxiety at times.
“I was stressing out and felt my time was running out and (I) needed to get committed and seen by coaches,” Selvage said. “It’s super nice to know that I am going somewhere and don’t have to, like, pressure myself to do certain things every single game.”
Selvage wasn’t the only Astro to have a big day at the plate against Providence. Shepard finished with 13 hits, with shortstop Abbie Statham-Ball adding three hits, three runs and a steal. Second baseman Meghan Potenza slugged an RBI double, walked and scored twice. Lexy Stergiopoulos and Emrie Peterson each drove in two runs for the Astros.
“Having the support of my teammate behind was one of the best feelings,” said Selvage, who was staked to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. “That took a little bit of pressure off me.”
Ditto for the Astros’ strong defense.
“We do a lot of defensive practices,” coach Bridget McDermott said. “We like to practice certain situations and I just like to prepare them for the unexpected.”
“We made some awesome plays today, unbelievable plays that I did not expect to happen,” Selvage said. “As a pitcher, I know my teammates have my back all the time and they do everything they can to get that ball. And they showed that out there today. I am truly so proud.”
Selvage is staying competitive but taking in the time with her coaches and teammates.
“It’s super rewarding to just be able to go out and have fun with my teammates for the last time,” Selvage said.
McDermott, meanwhile, is just starting her head-coaching career. She previously was an assistant under Kelsey Clifford before they swapped roles and is also a 2019 alum and former player at Shepard.
“It was not that big of a transition,” McDermott said. “We’re in a really lucky position to have a lot of girls that I already knew in addition to the new ones. Luckily we all know each other and it felt like last season was like yesterday.”