Thursday’s Wheaton softball practice was over and fourth-year Knights coach Ashley Osborne’s players eagerly retreated to pack up their equipment for the start of spring break. All but one player, that is.
Senior pitcher Amy Grubic, 17, wasn’t yet satisfied with her workout. Grubic is always last to come off the practice field, her coach said. It’s that type of attitude and work ethic that has seen the four-year starter catapult herself from mediocrity into the upper echelon of Montgomery County pitching the last two years.
Though her team hasn’t had a great deal of success during her career — Wheaton’s 7-11 record in 2007 was its best in seven years — Grubic has been tagged as one of the county’s premier pitchers in 2008. And, a relative unknown a year ago, she’s already attracted attention from several college programs this spring, including Division II schools Shepherd and West Liberty, both in West Virginia.
‘‘It says a lot about her ability that she’s on a losing team two years running and people are still like, ‘Wow, she’s good,’” Osborne said. ‘‘As far as work ethic, it doesn’t get any better than Amy’s. She’s always the one going, ‘What do you mean practice is over? Let’s run more.’ And her teammates will have to be like, ‘Amy, it’s 5 p.m. Let’s go.’ She’s not the most athletic girl. She’s not the smartest. But she works harder than everyone else. And that’s what sets her apart; that’s what will help her succeed at the college level.”
When Grubic, a three-year starter for Wheaton’s girls basketball squad and a runner on the school’s cross country squad, first joined Osborne’s team she didn’t have any formal pitching training. She started playing softball recreationally in second grade and taught herself to pitch in fifth. But she didn’t play travel ball. She was a raw talent; a natural athlete with tons of potential.
This past summer Grubic was accepted to the Montgomery Village Sports Association Storm U-18 team and began working with pitching coach Jim Kibbe, who has helped craft such successful pitchers as former Sherwood lefty Dana Ward, who struck out a county-high 243 batters in 2007. Grubic spends three nights a week working with Kibbe to hone her skills. And in seven months’ time, her arsenal has grown from one pitch — fastball — to four: fastball, riseball, dropball and changeup.
Though Grubic is getting ready to start her fourth season inside Wheaton’s pitching circle — she started all but three games the last three years — she’s just starting to tap into her potential. She averaged eight strikeouts per game last season, but that number is likely to increase this year as she continues to blossom as an elite-level pitcher.
‘‘All the kids that come here work extremely hard, they really do,” Kibbe said. ‘‘But Amy, she just never wants to stop. She never wants to quit and go home. It’s not unusual for her to throw more than 200 pitches a night.”
He is also impressed with how quickly she adapts.
‘‘She listens very well and does what you ask her to do. We’ve completely changed her motion. ... She’s got good movement on the ball. She hits her spots. She changes speed. She calls her own game. It’s a neat thing to watch.”
Despite last year’s minor resurgence, Wheaton has been a running punch line for county softball recently. But Grubic thrives in the face of adversity and has helped raise the level of her those around her.
‘‘I know my team works hard and they do the best they can,” Grubic said. ‘‘As a team we win or lose. I was very proud of our team last year. I was not embarrassed of our record.”
Grubic isn’t just a pitcher, either. She’s become more comfortable in her leadership role as a senior this year. She’s the sparkplug of the Knights’ offense. Whether or not Wheaton can repeat or build upon last year’s success, Grubic made a statement in 2007. Backed by her drive and will and Kibbe’s help, 2008 is bound to be a big breakout year.
‘‘She’s progressed so much,” Osborne said. ‘‘Her freshman year when she was pitching, she had a fastball and that was it. You knew it’d be fast but you never knew where it was going. Sophomore year she pitched fast and within the strike zone. Now she’s got a lot of control. She has a pretty nasty rise. She’s an amazingly well-rounded young lady. She’s the batter when you need it. She’s the brains to make the play. Her knowledge of the game is very impressive.”
