DePauw-bound Clover star ‘digs’ getting dirty

Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Kelsey Helterbrand (front row, second from left) signed her national letter-of-intent last week to play softball for DePauw University. Witnessing were father Shawn Helterbrand, mother Bonnie Helterbrand and brother Wyatt Helterbrand. Also present (back, from left) were assistant principal Brent Sailor, principal Sonny Stoltz, athletic director James Wade, high school assistant coaches Neal Jordan and Rob Costin and Indiana Gators coach Mark Lloyd.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

CLOVERDALE — Kelsey Helterbrand is not a “girly-girl.”

She doesn’t mind getting dirty, and actually enjoys it.

“Sometimes in practice, I’ll just dive on the ground for fun just so I can be dirty,” she said. “I love it.”

Such a mentality is common in most of the best softball players, and the Cloverdale senior standout is no exception.

The leadoff-hitting shortstop is hopeful of taking her team to a sectional title this spring, and will continue her career at DePauw University next year after signing a national letter-of-intent last week.

The Tigers finished the regular season at 20-18, but were 13-3 in North Coast Athletic Conference play and have earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tourney that starts on Friday.

Kelsey Helterbrand frequently attracts dirt on the softball field, and she's OK with that.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

Such success, as well as proximity to home, drew Helterbrand to DePauw.

“I love being close to home, so I can still visit my family and see what my brother [Wyatt] excels in,” she said. “I love the coach. Coach Erica [Hanrahan] made me feel like I was already on the team when I went there for my visit.

“I know some of the girls on the team already, and one of the players from my travel team is playing there.”

Helterbrand is pretty busy this spring with her team’s games and practices, but has made it to a few of the DePauw games to get a better feel for college softball.

“I went to a doubleheader against Franklin, and a lot of the other recruits were there,” she said. “It was good to meet them and watch the team play.”

Helterbrand has caught in her career, but has spent most of her time as a middle infielder.

“There’s a chance I may be in the middle infield, but it just depends on how I do in the training and practices in the month before the season,” she said. “They have told me to increase my strength and speed. We do a lot of lifting as a team, and speed work, and they want me to be able to hit better and to run out plays.”

Helterbrand began playing on the Indiana Gators travel team when she was 14, and set a goal of playing in college some day.

At one point, though, she had played so much she became “burned out” on the sport and temporarily gave it up .

Gators’ coach Mark Wood called her and asked her to come back, and she’s glad she did.

“That’s what kind of made my fire to relight,” she said. “I love softball.”

Helterbrand plans to major in biology at DePauw, but isn’t sure of her exact career path yet. She would ideally like to use the knowledge in law enforcement to identify criminals through scientific means.

She and the 12-4 Clovers have set a goal of getting to the sectional championship game — and then completing the task with their first sectional title since 2009.

“We just strive to get better every day,” she said. “We won the county, which was one of our goals. The conference is next, and then the sectional.”

Helterbrand and her teammates likes to have fun, and have adopted a pregame ritual of taking eye black and painting stripes on their faces.

“We call it ‘Indian War Paint’, and it’s something we started doing as a friend group,” she said. “It’s how we get ready for games, and get ready to win. I think it helps.”

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