Ever since she was eight years old, Karlee Sefrit has wanted to play college softball.

On Wednesday, a signing ceremony at the Mexico Sports Complex made it clear that dream came true as the Mexico senior signed to play for the NAIA’s Central Methodist University in Fayette, making her the second Lady Bulldog in as many weeks to commit to the Eagles as Brooke Teel held her ceremony the previous Wednesday.

Sefrit said she put in a lot of work in her life to make it this far and is happy that it was enough to be noticed. Central Methodist head coach Pat Reardon reached out to Sefrit, she said, instead of her seeking out college destinations. When Sefrit visited the campus, she realized there was much to like about the school rather than just the success of the program, which regularly has won 40-50 games in recent years.

“Whenever I started going to the campus, everything started to come together and felt not just like I was going to go to college for school,” Sefrit said. “It felt like I already had friends there and everything felt more like high school again. Knowing it was a big step and it wasn’t such a huge change made me feel a lot better about it.”

While she is happy Central Methodist has already proven to be welcoming, Sefrit is happy regardless that Teel will remain her teammate. The two have been key parts of Mexico’s offense this season, with Teel reaching base and stealing bases from the leadoff spot and Sefrit bringing her home from the No. 3 hole.

“I’m one of the people that are scared to do things alone,” Sefrit said. “Now that I get to take the biggest step of my life with her, it makes me a lot less stressed about it because I know doing it with her is going to be something I’m never going to want to skip out on. She’ll always be right there next to me.”

The previous big step in Sefrit’s career was initially difficult as Sefrit said she was nervous during her freshman year as a Lady Bulldog. It continued to be a struggle until she gained better focus and resilience, even after making mistakes.

Eventually, Sefrit said it was as if the people in the stands weren’t there as her mentality changed along with her roles every year as she went from catcher to shortstop to third basemen.

“I’ve grown the most mentally,” Sefrit said. “I would destroy myself over one mistake. Playing with everyone and being with everyone over the years with the same people, it made me realize that it’s a team sport and a game of failure. You can’t just blame yourself for a lost game. We lose as a team, we win as a team, we make mistakes as a team and you grow as a team.”

Head coach Hanna Branch said she is proud to send multiple players to college and even have two go to the same school. They should benefit from each other as they each become accustomed to a new team.

Sefrit has been a force in the No. 3 hole this season, Branch said, as she is in that spot because her bat is her best tool and has remained there because of her ability in high-pressure situations. Branch, who was an all-conference player at McKendree University, said Sefrit brings versatility as another valuable asset to the Eagles.

“She’s bought into a new position to her this year,” Branch said. “For her to put in that work at a new position says a lot about her and just the power behind her bat. She takes aggressive at-bats, and she hits the ball hard. I can see her definitely being very successful at CMU and doing things for her team.”

Sefrit said she expects to remain at about the same area of the field at either shortstop or third base at Central Methodist from the results gathered from her workouts from her college visit. While Sefrit acknowledges she needs to be better at being consistent, she is ready to bring her work ethic and mentality to college and believes those were noticed by coach Reardon whenever he watched her play.

“I worked my tail off to get noticed by coaches,” Sefrit said. “He’s come to our games — he came to the Fulton game the other day to watch me and Brooke — and he’s not one of those coaches that is just a coach. He’s going to be your partner in crime. He’s going to be at every single game, and he’s going to make sure you’re getting your classes done.”