State or bust postponed: Logan Gronberg and Bismarck HS will have to wait until next year to avenge championship loss
BISMARCK, N.D. (BVM) — In her three years on varsity, Logan Gronberg has been a part of three Bismarck High School softball Class A state tournament teams. One ended as a semifinalist and the other two had the Demons losing in the championship to West Fargo High School.
The run is impressive and it becomes even more so when considering that the right-handed pitcher and corner infielder is only a sophomore. Her first state run with Bismarck was when she was a seventh grader.
“She was kind of even my ace in the hole having this big strong seventh grade hitter and down the stretch she played very pivotal roles offensively coming into the game,” head coach Kurt Grensteiner said.
That season ended as a state runner-up. Her eighth grade year ended in the semifinals with a first team all-state selection. The 2019 season was something special. As a freshman, Gronberg won Gatorade North Dakota Softball Player of the Year with a stellar stat line: .670 batting average, 15 home runs, 67 RBIs and 38 runs scored along with a 1.289 slugging percentage. Unfortunately, the Demons lost a close one in the title game to softball powerhouse West Fargo, 8-6.
Even more heartbreaking was the fashion in which Bismarck lost. The Demons gave up six runs in two innings.
“Last year, we really felt that we were there, Grensteiner said. “Until we beat them they are definitely the table setter.”
West Fargo does more than just set the table. They have won 10 of the last 11 state championships, but Bismarck is quickly catching up.
The good news for the Demons is that they are a young team. They’re also a close-knit group of girls that have, in their coach’s opinion, become a “sports family.”
”This year we have three seniors and they’ll all three start, but our nucleus definitely is that sophomore class,” Grensteiner said.
That sophomore class is anchored by Gronberg, who looks like she could be a four-time Gatorade Player of the Year by the time she graduates.
Their youth gives the team time to achieve their goals, but Grensteiner said that it doesn’t change the fact that they want to win now.
“I think that does give them some comfort, but they know that nothing’s definite,” he said. “Coming up short the last few years when we felt that we had you know really strong teams is a tough pill to swallow that we would like to get over.”
They were determined to get over it this year.
“Our offseason was unbelievable,” Grensteiner said. “It was just training so hard and seeing those kids in open gym it was like, ‘wow, we’re ready to rock.’ It was the best offseason training I had ever seen.”
Unfortunately, the Demons will have to wait another year for the chance to win the last game of the season. The NDHSAA canceled the spring season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, school closed the day that Bismarck High School was supposed to have their first practice.
That was a day that the coaches and players had been waiting for since that loss to West Fargo.
“It makes it so much harder just going from the last two innings of our season last year in the state championship we gave up six runs in two innings to lose by two in the championship of our state tournament,” Grensteiner said. “All of us that were involved could not wait until March 16 to get that first practice in. Now to wait another year to avenge those two innings is going to be long.”
The girls are staying strong. Coaches are limited to very little contact with them so the players have been working on their own. Led by Gronberg and the sophomore class, the Demons are even more determined to not miss their opportunity next year.
Until then, they’ll say goodbye to their three seniors, keep preparing and wait until next March for that first practice they never got.
