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WORTHINGTON -- Haley Grimmius, who completed an outstanding fast-pitch softball career at Worthington High School last month, has been named to the All-Southwest Conference and All-Section 2AAA teams, and has also earned honorable mention All-State.
Grimmius, a superlative all-around performer, was a dominant pitcher throughout her high school career. She was also a powerfully productive hitter -- so dangerous that after homering in her first at bat against St. Peter in the section tournament, she was walked intentionally every time after that, including while leading off in the seventh inning of a deadlocked game.
After going deep into the section tournament last year, the Trojans lost their only two section games this year. That, said Grimmius’ coach Rosalie Hayenga-Hostikka, might have been a factor in her star player getting honorable mention instead of being named all-state outright. Worthington, in many high school sports, has often felt as if it were penalized in some way for being out of sight and out of mind in the far southwestern corner of Minnesota.
“I’m super proud of her. It’s just unfortunate that the only thing they look at is the win-loss record. Her stats were worthy of being first-team all-state. And I think being down here in southwest Minnesota, we don’t get the respect,” Hayenga-Hostikka said.
Grimmius competed in the senior All-Star Series Sunday in Mankato, where she performed admirably. She threw a two-hitter with eight strikeouts in one of the games.
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The Trojan right-hander recorded her 500th career strikeout during the 2022 regular season. She had nine shutouts in her senior year and four no-hitters. She led all of the all-state selections in home runs and was in the top five in batting percentage.
Grimmius will continue her softball career next season at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Along with Grimmius, senior Olivia Hayenga and freshman Hannah McNab were selected to the all-conference team.
