Making history

Karina Grussling’s love affair with softball began innocently enough.

“My dad actually got me into the sport because when I was a little kid I was able to throw him a ball, I guess,” Grussling said.

From that simple game of toss as a 6-year-old, Grussling has become the first four-year senior in the history of the Lewis and Clark High School slow-pitch softball program. Even in the first weeks of the program back in 2002, Tiger Head Coach Tara Groves was able to see Grussling’s potential.

“She was really shy, but she was always really talented all along,” said Groves. “The reason I took her as a freshman, even though we had great numbers, was she could play anywhere. At the time she was a second baseman, and we needed an outfielder. I knew I could convert her because she was skilled enough. I forced her into playing right field for us, and every year since then she has improved as an outfielder.”

Grussling’s softball education began almost immediately after she made the team her first year.

“When I was a freshman, there was this girl named Kristi Rhodes,” said Grussling. “She was a junior when I was a freshman. She was an upperclassmen and she was really good. She was really nice, too. She told me what to do, and how to help with my throwing and batting. She kind of made me think that I should be as good as her when I got older. She made me work harder and be the player I could be.”

Her improvement process has been seen most dramatically in the batters box.

“She ended up batting 2 (second) for us last year,” said Groves. “She’s come from the bottom of the lineup all the way up. She’s really hitting the ball much, much better. She’s just a base-hit hitter. She just chips away and gets on,” he said.

Grussling is now at the stage where she can share her skills with younger players. “As a freshman, I didn’t have the ability to increase to what the upperclassmen had,” she said. “Through the years, I’ve seemed to get the skills and become like the upperclassmen, and get to teach the younger ones.”

That leadership is something both player and coach hope will benefit Grussling and the Tigers this season.

“I want to improve in becoming more of a leader,” said Grussling. “On being a leader, I am shy, but just being out there with my friends, I’m really energetic. “

Grussling “leads by example,” Groves said. “She’s not real rah-rah. She knows where the ball should be going every time it’s hit. She’ll let her teammates know those kinds of things. She is a good leader but in different ways. Usually your leader is more of a quarterback and real loud and vocal, but that is not so much her role.”

One thing Grussling is proud of is being part of the start of the slow-pitch program at Lewis and Clark.

“From the beginning, our teams were small, but we’ve ended up getting more players throughout the years, knowing more high school girls would love to try out because they maybe have nothing else to do, and that maybe it’s an easy sport because it’s modified,” she said. “Every year our team grows and is getting stronger. I can’t even believe that three years have gone by and this will be my last year to play softball at Lewis and Clark. I want to make the best of it. I want to give next year’s players encouragement.”