Softball Star Kelsey Stewart Ties The Knot, Becomes Kelsey Hunter
by Chrös McDougall
Kelsey Stewart celebrates the end of the first inning against Team Japan during the Softball Gold Medal Game at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on July 27, 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Kelsey Stewart is sure making 2021 a year to remember.
Ten weeks after winning an Olympic silver medal with the U.S. softball team — and launching a walk-off home run along the way — the utility player from Wichita, Kansas, tied the knot over the weekend, marrying Brice Hunter.
The newlyweds announced their marriage on Instagram Sunday with a photo showing the couple in matching white Air Force One high tops — though Kelsey’s featured orange accents on the laces, while Brice went for the clean white.
“On Brand: Mr. & Mrs. Hunter 😏💍❤️,” she captioned the photo. “I mean are you even married if you don’t have matching 1’s.”
Brice shared the same photo, his message more succinct.
“The Hunters 💙,” he wrote. “#4Lifers.”
The milestone continues a landmark year for Stewart — ahem, Hunter.
The former SEC Player of the Year at Florida has been a mainstay on Team USA for years and in 2019 was named to the Olympic team. She held onto that spot after the Tokyo Games were postponed a year and made her Olympic debut in July.
With softball back in the Olympics for the first time since 2008 — and no official return date — she made the opportunity count.
In one of the most thrilling moments for Team USA at the Games, Stewart closed out pool play by blasting a walk-off homer to beat Japan.
“It’s something you dream about as a little kid, but for it to actually happen, you can’t even put into words,” she told KWCH-TV in Wichita.
Though Japan came back to beat Team USA 2-0 the next day for the gold medal, the experience left her driven to continue on in the sport in hope that she’ll have another opportunity for Olympic gold in 2028, she told KWCH.