Linn-Mar’s quiet leader, Emily Koranda has bounced back — even better — after injury

MARION — If you think Emily Koranda is quiet now ...

“I may have heard 10 words from her when she was a freshman,” Linn-Mar softball coach Maddy Colbert said.

Words aren’t easy to get from Koranda. Runs, even harder.

“My mindset is that I’m not going to let you get on base,” said Koranda (now a senior), who has led Linn-Mar to this week’s state softball tournament.

The second-ranked Lions (33-6) open with No. 8 Pleasant Valley (30-9) in a Class 5A quarterfinal at 4:45 Monday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex, Fort Dodge.

“It’s something we’ve been working for, for a long time,” Colbert said. “It feels very satisfying.”

Even more so for Koranda, and for teammate Emma Barnes, who have been close friends for years.

Last summer, they were relegated to a role neither wanted:

Bench buddies.

For Koranda, it was a torn left ACL, suffered the previous winter, during a basketball game.

“I was going up for a layup, and it just gave out on me,” she said.

For Barnes, it was a broken ankle, sustained during the final preseason scrimmage.

“Someone hit the ball to the outfield,” Barnes recalled. “I was going home and I had to slide. My cleat got caught in the catcher’s gear.”

Linn-Mar went 19-20 last year, but it wasn’t necessarily a lost season.

For one thing, “We were able to develop some younger girls and get ready for this competitive environment,” Colbert said.

For another, Koranda began to speak up.

“I took it as a learning experience to be a good teammate, to become a team leader,” she said.

After all of the rehabilitation that a torn ACL requires, Koranda was cleared to start playing indoor club softball last November. Her first tournament back, she earned most-valuable-pitcher honors.

“That made me feel like I was back to where I started,” Koranda said.

The Lions began the season unranked in 5A, but it didn’t take them long to climb the charts.

They knocked off then-No. 1 Pleasant Valley on June 6. They earned a split with top-five Ankeny Centennial on June 14.

“Those were eye-openers,” said Colbert, in her second season as head coach. “We knew we would have potential. We have the ability compete and play high-level softball against some very good teams.”

“It’s been an electric season,” Barnes said.

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With a dominator in the circle, Linn-Mar has a chance against anybody.

In her final high school season (she has signed with Missouri State University), Koranda has posted a 17-3 mark with a 0.87 ERA. She has struck out 196 and has walked 21 in 128 1/3 innings of work, and leads the Lions at the plate (.436, seven home runs, 35 RBIs).

“She throws hard and moves the ball,” Colbert said. “She knows where to put it. She’s able to read batters. She knows when to get off the plate, and when to attack.”

Koranda compiled a 15-1 record as a freshman and pitched well at the state tournament, though the Lions went 0-2 in Fort Dodge. She was 14-5 as a sophomore before missing her junior season.

Her pitch selection comes not from the dugout, but from catcher Kaylie Alvey behind the plate.

“(Alvey has) been catching Emily for a long time. They’re in constant communication,” Colbert said.

“Emily wouldn’t be Emily without Kaylie.”

Koranda said, “Ninety percent of the time, (Alvey) and I agree. I’ll be thinking about a pitch, and she calls it.

“We talk a lot about sequencing of pitches. It might depend on the team. If we’ve seen them before, we might change our approach.”

Cedar Rapids Kennedy was the last Metro team to capture a state softball championship, in 2020. Before that, you have to go back to Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s back-to-back titles in 1997-98.

This tournament features two Metro high-hopefuls. Cedar Rapids Xavier is rated No. 1 in 4A.

As for Linn-Mar? Even if its star doesn’t speak a lot, the Lions don’t intend to go down quietly.

“We have high expectations,” Koranda said. “We want to win some games and have fun doing it.”

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Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com