Zoey Gruber helps Lansing Catholic start Softball Classic title defense strong
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LANSING —'The nerves used to be through the roof for Zoey Gruber before pitching performances early in her varsity career for the Lansing Catholic softball team.
That's no longer the case for the junior.
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Being a third-year varsity player has helped Gruber calm those nerves. Also having trust in the team around her has provided a calming presence.
Those elements have helped Gruber make a big mark for the Cougars.
Gruber added to her success with a strong showing Tuesday, May 19 while helping Lansing Catholic open its title defense at the Softball Classic with an 11-1 win over Fowler at Ranney Park.
Gruber struck out 12 while tossing a complete game to help the Cougars (22-3) advance to the semifinals Thursday, May 21. She limited a strong lineup for CMAC champion Fowler headlined by sisters Saige Miller, a Maryland signee, and Bristol Miller.
"I trust myself a little more now," Gruber said. "I was nervous going in knowing that we had some competitive hitters (we were facing) and just being able to trust my catcher (helped). I just say it's between me and my catcher and just one batter at a time. It really helps my mental focus. This gained my confidence a little bit but we've still got more games to go."
Gruber did her damage more than in the circle and went 3-for-5 at the plate with two doubles and a home run to left field. She homered in the seventh inning while putting together a strong finish to her night.
"She just gets better every game," Lansing Catholic coach Amy Poljan said. "She's working very hard to refine her pitching and bounce back from some things maybe she's not real happy about."
Alyssa LaConte added four hits and two RBI and Kathy Howard went 3-for-4 for Lansing Catholic which scored three in the top of the first and stayed in control from there. Tuesday marked a strong opening step for the Cougars as they chase one of their top goals.
"This has been one of the things on our goal board to come back and just compete really well," Poljan said. "This is a great opportunity as we move into districts and hopefully beyond for us to be able to fine tune what we're doing and to have great competition. That was actually a really good game. (Fowler is) a very good team. I think that's a great thing for us."
DEWITT 3, HOLT 2
Tess Rypstra and Emily Agnew had key doubles to help vault the Panthers past CAAC Blue rival in the other Softball Classic opener on Tuesday. Rypstra had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh, to lead DeWitt as it took the rubber match between the programs after they split their meetings in CAAC Blue play on May 7.
Kaydence Ballinger-Szostak earned the pitching win and allowed just four hits in seven innings of work for the Panthers (23-8).
Contact Brian Calloway at [email protected]. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Zoey Gruber leads Lansing Catholic softball past Fowler