The Grundy Center softball team has been working to raise its efforts to the level of the other strong year-round sports on the Spartan campus.
The program took a major step forward last week, sweeping AGWSR on June 23 in Ackley to clinch Grundy Center’s first outright NICL West championship in softball since 1989.
“Grundy’s not known for having a huge softball program,” said Kyndra Dieken, the Spartans’ lone senior this season. “Being able to win that was just a really big success.”
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A key component to the Spartans’ division championship was winning two out of three games against East Marshall, a program with a storied history of softball including a fourth-place finish at last year’s state tournament.
Allison Koch’s game-winning hit in an 11-inning game in Grundy Center on June 5 set the table for the Spartans, and after a narrow 2-0 loss in the first game of the doubleheader in Le Grand on June 16 the Spartans claimed the rubber match later that night, 10-1.
The wins against the Cougars a week later sealed the deal.
“It felt really good knowing that this just hasn’t been done in a long time,” sophomore Maddy Hendershot said. “No one’s really talked much about softball at Grundy Center and now people are saying ‘Oh yeah, softball is up there now.’”
Hendershot is one of a handful of sophomores in the Spartan lineup that provides a solid backbone to Grundy Center’s efforts on the field, following the lead established by co-captains Dieken, Koch and Lauren Zajac.
Hendershot was a second-team All-NICL West selection at pitcher last season and leads the team this year with a .429 batting average, three triples and 20 stolen bases, and is also a big contributor in the pitching circle again this season with a 6-2 record. Camdyn Aronson hits .418 for the Spartans. First baseman Caturella Brown and outfielder Ava Heeren have been steady for the Spartan defense.
“That group does play a lot of extra ball in the fall and in the spring, they travel around,” Grundy Center head coach Andy Lebo said. “And they’ve had their roles here since eighth graders. They’re just a great group of kids to be around, they’re fun to coach, and they’ll give you everything they got because they like to play softball.”
The group came in at a reset point for the softball team after the graduation of star pitcher and current Central College standout Emma Beck, who helped the Spartans reach the regional finals in 2022.
The 2023 team went 7-23 and improved to 12-18 in 2024, including a shocking upset of then second-ranked Alburnett in the regional quarterfinals.
“We really turned it around last year,” said Zajac, a junior. “Our record didn’t really show our work ethic, but knowing that we could win those big games and be that underdog like against Alburnett really helped us. … That momentum and mindset is what set the tone for us this year.”
Grundy Center started the season 3-2 before the win against East Marshall really helped put the Spartans on the map.
“We knew that we had a really good team,” Aronson said. “We knew that we had a really good chance and we just kept getting better throughout the season.”
The Spartans have also seen contributions from eighth-grader Macey Kiewiet, who’s made a splash in her first season with a .414 average, and as part of Grundy’s pitching staff recently hit 100 strikeouts for the season as well as a 1.70 ERA in 74 ⅓ innings pitched.
“Our pitching has been very solid this year,” Lebo said. “Macey’s really coming around and stepping up as an eighth grader and moving into that role where she can throw quite a few innings for us. Maddy’s done a really good job as well, she’s very competitive and has had some big wins for us, she comes out and pitches hard and grinds it out, and she’s coming off being an all-conference pitcher for us last year, so we’re very fortunate to have two frontrunners for us.”
This postseason in a way will bring things full circle for the Spartans as they will hit the road to Alburnett on July 9 for their regional opener.
“I don’t think we’ll sneak up on them this year,” Lebo said with a laugh. “But it’s just our ability to compete. … I’d run this team up against anyone in the state, I’m not concerned or nervous about playing anybody because I know our girls will compete.”
The Spartans wrapped up the regular season with road games at Hampton-Dumont-CAL, Don Bosco and West Marshall this week, and they’ll carry confidence to Alburnett and wherever else they may find themselves this postseason.
“Once we get in our groove, it’s hard to get us out of it,” Evelyn Geerdes said. “This has just been a really fun season, and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group of girls.”
The 1989 team won the conference when it was composed of 10 total teams, edging out BCLUW, Hudson and Union by two games for the top spot. The Spartans were led by NICL MVP Kim Van Deest as well as fellow first-teamers Bobbi Sealman at third base and pitcher Sarah Lynch.
The team also featured Ann Rouse, now Dr. Ann Lebo, the former Iowa Director of Education who was recently hired as the new superintendent for Grundy Center schools, and is in the dugout with her husband Andy, helping to guide the next generation of Spartan stars.
JAKE RYDER SPORTS 