Auburndale softball ‘hungry for more’

MARSHFIELD – When members of the Auburndale High School softball team were asked to identify their goals coming into this season, a return trip to the WIAA State Tournament was high on everyone’s list.

“I would think that most of them are feeling that way, if not all of them,” Head Coach Dawn Urban told Hub City Times during a recent interview. “When we sat down and wrote the goals, I think almost every one of them had, ‘To go as far in postseason as we can.’ Conference was definitely the big one. This is the 3-peat for these juniors. But our goal is to see Goodman Diamond again.”

The Eagles first saw Goodman Diamond in Madison in 2024, when Auburndale made its first State Tournament appearance – a 9-4 loss to Cuba City in the Div. 4 State Semifinals.

The ace of that team was then-freshman, Morgan Griesbach, who thinks this year’s squad is better than the 2024 version of the Eagles.

“I would say so,” Griesbach told us. “Our bats are kind of on fire right now.”

As a junior, the three-year starting pitcher has now added a rise ball to her arsenal of weapons, which already included a drop curve, a fastball and a changeup.

“I realized that I needed something up to change their eye level,” the 5’1” Griesbach said. “We just needed something high.”

Griesbach’s pitches aren’t the only part of her game rising these days. She is quickly closing in on 500 career strikeouts.

“The one word that pops up into my mind about Morgan is her resiliency to bounce back when anything might happen,” Urban said of her ace pitcher and leadoff batter. “She’s just got grit. She’s had high goals from a young age and she continues to push herself to reach those goals. She brings that confidence with her to the team. The girls sometimes will jokingly say, ‘In Morgan we trust,’ but that is exactly where they’re at. She’s always encouraging her teammates, pushing them to be the best that they can.”

That grit and determination come from pushing herself even harder.

Diagnosed with scoliosis when she was two years old, the former youth softball catcher wanted to pitch in the worst way.

“I thought pitching was probably one of the best spots on the field, and I wanted a different view than catching,” Morgan remembered.  

Concerned for her health and safety, her doctor and her dad wouldn’t allow it at first.

“That was a drive for me,” said Griesbach. “I think that just set it off.”

Once she was cleared to pitch at the 10U level, Morgan found her niche.

“And then I met Danny Costa – he’s my pitching coach – and then it just went from there,” Griesbach shared.

Morgan, whose back is now fused with two permanent rods, wears No. 11 for two reasons. Her older sister, Erin, also wore No. 11 for Auburndale. And as an eighth grader three years ago, Morgan underwent her 11th – and final – surgery.

“It just pushes me to work harder,” she told us.

Morgan can now pitch and play softball pain-free.

She is one of seven players on this year’s team that were also part of the 2024 State Tournament roster.

Another is Breleigh Grimm, who Coach Urban bats second and moved from second base to shortstop. Grimm is also one of four team captains, along with Griesbach, Chesney Nagel and catcher Danika Blomberg, the lone senior on this year’s squad, who surpassed 100 career hits earlier this season.

Junior Myah Katzenberger bats in the cleanup spot this season, plays third base and also serves as a backup pitcher and catcher.               

Nagel, a junior, bats fifth and plays centerfield.

Sophomore Daelynn Blomberg bats sixth and primarily covers second base defensively, but will also cover third base, pitch and catch occasionally.

Junior Grace Schulte bats seventh and plays right field.

“She has been extremely strong in our batting order this year,” said Urban. “Her on-base percentage has been outstanding and she’s really racked up a lot of the RBIs, too.”

Junior Jalynn Scherr bats eighth in Urban’s lineup.

“Strong in left field,” she added. “Great coverage. And her batting this year is starting to increase as well.”

Brenna Thiel serves as the Eagles’ primary designated player this season, and mainly when Lily Bellanti is playing third base.

Junior utility player Alexis Godard has been used mostly as a courtesy runner this year.

Urban’s roster also includes four freshmen utility players who fill various roles. They are Alana Cherney, Ella Weichelt, Emily Lundgren and Aubrey Richardson.

Urban, in her 12th season overall, is back this year after nine years away from the head coaching position, and guided the Eagles to another Marawood Conference-South Division championship, with a record of 9-1.

“I’ve got a great core group of girls,” said Urban. “They’ve worked really hard. They have high goals. They’re very athletic. They’re also good students. And they’re good students of the sport.”