KSU HOF induction ‘cherry on top’ for ex-softball standout
Jessica Bolinger, who as Jessica Carmichael led Dalton High to back to back state softball championships before going on to a stellar career at Kent State, was inducted into the KSU Varsity K Hall of Fame on Feb. 1.
Time is flying by for Jessica Bolinger. Her athletic career is disappearing in the rearview mirror as a result.
That’s OK with the Dalton High grad and softball standout. She’s got a new set of athletic careers to worry about. Her own can just be a nice collection of memories.
Some of those will be on display Feb. 1 during the 45th annual Varsity K Hall of Fame induction ceremonies when Bolinger will be among those inducted into Kent State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
“It’s kind of like the cherry on top,” said Bolinger, who in 2014 was named to the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame. “It’s quite an honor.”
Bolinger said it seems both long ago and like last week since she was in the midst of her athletic career.
“There’s some things that come, and it’s like, ‘Wow, that was almost yesterday,’” she said. “It’s coming up on 20 years since that first state championship we won. Then as you get older, those accomplishments, goals that you have when you were 18, 20, they seem so much bigger now.”
The softball standout, then Jess Carmichael, led Dalton to back-to-back Division IV state championships in 2006 and 2007 and went on to be a four-year standout for the Golden Flashes. She earned All-Mid-American Conference honors in three of her four seasons.
A standout pitcher and hitter at Dalton, Bolinger was primarily an infielder at Kent State. She left KSU as its career leader in home runs with 36 and RBI with 132. She was third in hits (179) and doubles (38) and was the career leader in at-bats.
Nearly 15 years since her career ended, she still stands second in at-bats, third in RBI and tied for third in home runs.
During her years at Kent, the Golden Flashes won the 2008 MAC regular season and tournament championships, an MAC East title in 2009, and the 2010 regular season conference title.
Once her playing days were over, Bolinger, who is married to Zach, spent six seasons as Orrville’s head softball coach. These days she coaches her 11-year-old daughter Bryn’s travel team. She said Bryn is solid but might not be a softball hall of famer. The younger Bolinger might have other plans.
“She really enjoys basketball,” Bolinger said. “She plays AAU basketball and really has fun with that.”
Bryn does play softball and is active in 4-H activities. Her younger brothers, Ky, 8, and Hayes, 6, also are active in sports.
While she is a long way away from her playing days, the memories are still strong.
“In general it’s just the traveling and being with the team and certain trips like Texas A&M and Arizona State,” she said, “bus trips and plane rides. For the MAC alone, we’d play somewhere Friday and play a doubleheader, then leave to go somewhere else for a single game Saturday and Sunday. The last weekend in January, we’d be playing down south, and then it would be every weekend. I remember the traveling just being exhausting but also exhilarating.”
Bolinger remembers when she walked off the field for the last time. She knew her days were over but got a nice send-off.
“It was at the MAC tournament,” she said. “You kind of know the end is coming. I remember walking off the field, and the Ball State coach telling me how happy he was to have me out of that lineup and they didn’t have to throw me anymore.”