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Sonberg becomes third Comet softball player to sign with NIACC

Press photo by John Burbridge From left, Ciana Sonberg is due to rejoin fellow senior teammates Peyton Reams and Tayler Schmidt as members of the NIACC softball team.
Press photo by John Burbridge
From left, Ciana Sonberg is due to rejoin fellow senior teammates Peyton Reams and Tayler Schmidt as members of the NIACC softball team.
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Ciana Sonberg is known for her in-your-face defense.

And she plays it without a mask.

In a sport where it’s sometimes vogue for even the outfielders to wear protective face gear, Sonberg — who plays third base for the Charles City Comets softball team — tends to get up close and personal with opposing hitters, creeping nearly halfway up the line to take away bunt attempts or “Punch and Judy” slaps while paying little mind to the threat of someone swinging away.

That’s the type of fearlessness you may expect from a multiple varsity letter-winning female wrestler.

On Monday, Sonberg signed to continue her athletic career at North Iowa Area Community College.

No, she’s not going there to wrestle … where’s the true grit in that?

“I’m glad I finally made the decision,” Sonberg said after signing her letter of intent to play for the Trojans softball team. “No more stressing about it.”

Though Sonberg came to the decision recently, it had been hinted by several of her Comet teammates who already signed with NIACC that she would likely be joining them.

Fellow Comet seniors Tayler Schmidt and Peyton Reams signed on to become Trojans this past winter.

“We like to go after players from winning programs, and it just so happens we were able to get three good players from one winning program,” NIACC head softball coach Dan Gratz said. “We’ve had players from the same high school on the team, but I don’t think we’ve ever had three from one class.”

The Comet trio should help bolster the Trojans’ team slugging percentage. All three come to the plate in scoring position as last year they collectively hit 20 of the Comets’ 37 homers.

Sonberg and Schmidt both homered in the first-round upset of No. 2-seed Fairfield in the Class 4A bracket of the State Softball Championships.

Sonberg later was named to the all-state tournament team, and Schmidt connected for another homer in the tournament.

Due to a re-aggravated thumb injury to Comet starting catcher Kelby Katcher during the Fairfield win, Sonberg and middle infielder Schmidt had to be moved from their original starting positions with Sonberg filling in at catcher and Schmidt taking Sonberg’s spot at third.

Whether the sudden defensive realignment and lineup change were a factor or not, the Comets dropped their next two games to finish fourth at state.

The season before, Charles City won the state consolation bracket for fifth place.

“We’ve got a lot coming back this year,” said Sonberg, who hit .429 with a slugging percentage of .622, and reached base nearly 50 percent of her plate appearances last season. “I feel we have a good chance of getting down there again.”

Sonberg says she has been doing a lot of indoor batting practice this offseason — more so than past offseasons due to her deciding not to go out for the high school trapshooting team this spring.

An accomplished FFA member, Sonberg said that she is still undecided about her major.

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