The Grundy Center softball team took a step forward this season. At 12-18, it was a leap from a seven-win season in 2023.
A key to the improvement was two freshman pitchers who worked the majority of the innings – Maddy Hendershot and Ava Mundt. Both saw playing time as eighth graders last year and cut down the number of walks issued, an area where the Spartans struggled at the time.
“They really came on as the year went on,” Head Coach Andy Lebo says. “Some of it was the good defense that we played and the caliber defense we played behind them and gave them that confidence so they could pitch to contact. They just grew and grew from last year, and then just each game they kept gaining that confidence. Lucy Lebo carried a lot of the load last year for us, and we kind of made the decision this year that she’s not going to be the future of the program pitching and we’ve got all these young kids to get out there. Let’s get them innings and we’ll use her when we need to.
Hendershot and Mundt combined to pitch 169.2 of the team’s 195.1 innings, contributing to the team ERA of 3.37. Lebo says the stage is set for the future of the program with a strong possibility of operating with a large pitching staff.
“I had sophomore in Allison Koch, we didn’t get her many innings early. And I didn’t know how we were going to get her innings with the depth that we have. So she threw a lot of the JV games for us. And she’s another one that I felt confident in running her out there in varsity games. We just didn’t have the opportunity for her because she played left field for us too. But then even next year, I mean, we’ve got two or three more coming in. That is a little uncharacteristic for a softball team. We’ve got four or five girls that can pitch. So we’re built more like a baseball staff.”
After a major upset of #2 (2A) Alburnett in the regional quarterfinals, the Spartans bowed out to eventual state qualifier West Fork in the semifinals. They’ll lose only three seniors that played regularly on varsity.
Andy Lebo interview:
