Avery Dunneback’s mission is simple each time she steps to the plate for the Lansing Catholic softball team.
Whether it’s a single, home run or a walk, Dunneback has made it a point to do whatever she can to help the Cougars’ offense.
The senior has contributed to plenty of success during her four-year varsity career at Lansing Catholic, which has won four straight league titles and the Softball Classic twice.
The latest contributions for the LSJ girls athlete of the week winner led to the Cougars building momentum for the state tournament by repeating as champions at the Greater Lansing Hall of Fame Softball Classic. She hit a key three-run home run and had a double in the championship game victory over Grand Ledge on May 15.
The home run has been part of improved power displayed this spring by Dunneback, who has nearly tripled her home run total from her junior season. Dunneback, who is signed to continue her softball career at Grand Valley State alongside twin sister Taylor, has 11 homers this spring after hitting just four in 2025.
“I think it’s really great,” Dunneback said of her homer total. “I didn’t really focus on increasing my power. Yes, I go to work out. I didn’t really change anything coming into this (season). It’s (like), wow, I’m kind of surprised at how many home runs I’ve hit so far. I knew I had the power, so this has been really a breakout year for me and probably one of the best high school seasons I’ve had in my whole career coming off of a really good junior season as well.
“Just being able to come up to the plate and knowing that maybe I can hit a home run is really awesome. I definitely don’t look at the numbers and how many home runs I’ve hit, I’m just looking to provide for my team when I can get that RBI or just when I can get on base.”
Dunneback focused on her approach at the plate in the offseason and believes that’s helped contribute to a big senior season where she recently surpassed 200 career hits. She entered the state tournament batting a Greater Lansing-best .611 with 46 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.
“”I have the swing to be a good hitter,” Dunneback said. “When I get out, I normally get myself out by swinging at bad pitches or something. Coming into high school season, I knew I wanted to work on my approach and work at swinging at pitches that I wanted to.
“Having that good approach really kind of set me up for success and it will continue to set me up for success if I continue to swing at pitches that I want and not get behind and have to swing at junk.”
Lansing Catholic coach Amy Poljan has grown accustomed to Dunneback making something good happen when she comes to the plate.
“It’s so exciting as a coach to see when we have people on base and Avery gets up, Taylor gets up, Zoey (Gruber) gets up,” Poljan said of her Nos. 3, 3 and 4 hitters. “I’m like, oh man, something is going down now and this is going to be really fun. If nothing else, they are going to hit the ball hard and run the bases hard.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing Catholic’s Avery Dunneback showing improved power in big final season
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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