The Grundy Center softball team took a step forward this season, with improved defense being a key factor.
The Spartans gave up 149 runs, which was over 100 runs fewer than 2023. Head Coach Andy Lebo says his team displayed a high knowledge of the game to work out of situations.
“The one thing that we did really well this year, and you don’t see this much in softball, is we turn a lot of 6-4-3, 4-6-3, 1-6-3 double plays,” Lebo says. “We kind of used that this year to get ourselves out of some innings, which just shows you the girls know what to do with the ball when they get it. They’re very confident, and it’s neat to see softball when it’s played at a level like that defensively.”
Lebo says the defense, including some great pitching performances, kept the team in games and led to big wins.
“Early on, we beat a ranked Jesup team, and Ava Mundt threw a three-hit shutout in that game, and we won 1-0. That was kind of the game where I thought maybe we were starting to get over the hump, and didn’t quite get there quite at that point. We had a Lisbon team who made the state tournament beat late in the game, and they ended up coming back and tying it, and we lost in extra innings to them. But we beat a Hudson team who had 20-some wins, played the East Marshall tough. These kids just kept getting better and better. And I thought they came ready to compete every night.”
The Spartans went 12-18 and 3-6 in the NICL-West.
