Senior Grace Gronberg was an absolute force on the softball diamond this year, excelling at both the plate and in the pitcher’s circle to be named the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

“Grace was our leader all season long,” said Coach Charlie Duncan. “Her work ethic began during the offseason and continued throughout the season.”

Gronberg was the team’s ace all season, as well as being the top hitter on the Blue Devils.

She went 14-4 with a 2.20 ERA, 162 strikeouts and 35 walks in 105 innings. Gronberg also posted a a 1.01 WHIP and hitters only had a .178 batting average against her. At the plate she batted .566 and had a slugging percentage of 1.072. She had a ridiculous 1.672 OPS on the season. Gronberg blasted 11 homers, 39 RBIs, seven doubles and a triple, with 47 total hits.

Gronberg now holds school records in batting average, slugging percentage, most homers in a season and most strikeouts in a season. 

Anytime Gronberg took the field there was potential for magic to happen. She was consistently the team’s top pitcher, and provided a massive source of power and production in the batter’s box. Gronberg was the best pitcher and the best hitter in most categories this year on both the Blue Devils and in the conference. One standout game was when Gronberg was one walk away from a perfect game against Fisher Catholic this season, recording 14 strikeouts against the 16 batters she went up against. 

“She was the rock that helped lead this team to its first KMAC Championship, going undefeated,” Duncan said.