Grundy Center’s fifth-consecutive claim to an NICL West championship was its most impressive.

Brody Zinkula singled home Dayton Myers for the winning run in a 5-4 triumph over Gladbrook-Reinbeck on Monday, June 30, with the Spartans completing a perfect 12-0 run through the competition in the NICL West.

After Grundy Center cruised to a 13-1 win in Game 1 of the doubleheader at the George Wilhelm Sports Complex, the rival Rebels rallied to tie Game 2 at 4-all with a two-RBI double from Hudson Clark. The Rebels had the go-ahead run on third and another on second, but Spartan senior pitcher Ryker Thoren got a flyout to end the threat.

Grundy Center’s other two seniors bookended the dramatic victory in the bottom half of the seventh: Myers earned a lead-off walk and was sacrificed to second by a bunt from leadoff hitter Brayden Davie. Two batters later, it was the third of three Grundy Center seniors, Brody Zinkula, swinging on the first pitch he saw from G-R standout Drew Eilers and sending it back up the middle as Myers rounded third and slid home safely.

“I knew Drew was going to throw his best, so I knew it’d be a first pitch strike so he could get up in the count,” Zinkula said. “And a ground ball up the middle, that’s exactly what I wanted.”

Myers added: “I saw [Coach] Brown waving me in and I knew I just had to run as fast as I could to get to home.”

Zinkula had three hits in Game 2 with two runs batted in. He also contributed two innings of scoreless relief in the first game, after the Spartans sent 13 batters to the plate and opened up a 9-0 lead after one inning.

Davie knocked in three runs for the Spartans in Game 1 and Judd Jirovsky, Thoren and Pete Lebo had two RBI each.

“We knew that G-R would throw Drew in one of those games so we just wanted to make sure we could strike against whoever else they put out there,” Jirovsky said. “And it was great to be able to leave the mound after that first inning so I could throw the second game as well, the start was ideal for sure.”

The Rebels were reinvigorated behind Eilers on the mound in Game 2, and even though they trailed most of the game, G-R stuck it out to put some pressure on the Spartans late.

“You could say we were a little lackadaisical in that second game, thinking they were going to lay down,” Davie said. “But it’s awesome, G-R battles in every sport just like we do, so they give us good looks for the postseason in any sport. … We just did a seven-on-seven football camp with them too, even though we don’t play them – it’s just more good competition around us.”

For the years where Grundy Center has shared the division title with other schools, an outright claim, and an undefeated record, is extra sweet.

“In the past, I think sometimes people think baseball is the sport we’re down in a little bit, and we’re trying to change that narrative led by our three seniors,” Jirovsky said. “Those guys want success across all sports, great leaders, and then we’ve got juniors, sophomores, everybody backing us up and the guys in the dugout playing their role, it’s a blessing to be a part of all this.”

The Spartans went on to check off another major goal with their 20th win of the season in a 6-3 victory over Hampton-Dumont-CAL on Tuesday, July 1. Their last regular-season test comes against eighth-ranked in 1A Don Bosco.

“We’ve just got to stay focused,” Myers said. “Keep coming to practice and getting better, stay positive with one another and keep this thing going.”