Softball notes: DePaul recruit Ava Gusel, Ashlynn Durkin team up for dynamic Downers Grove North pitching duo

Junior Ava Gusel, a DePaul recruit, and sophomore Ashlynn Durkin, back healthy after missing all of her freshman year with a back injury, are teaming up for a dynamic pitching combo at Downers Grove North this spring.

Ava Gusel and Ashlynn Durkin come from a shared pitching background outside of Downers Grove North, but the two girls hold two significant differences.

Both now play travel with the Orland Sparks softball program. Gusel and Durkin have worked out together and go to the same pitching coach.

Gusel, though, is in her third varsity season. This is Durkin’s first varsity season after missing all of her freshman year with a back injury. And Gusel is a left-handed pitcher. Durkin is a righty.

“We also have a good relationship as friends. We encourage each other and have each other’s backs, which is great,” Gusel said. “We’re always ready to come in when we need to. I have confidence in her and she has confidence in me.”

“We also have a good relationship as friends. I have confidence in her, and she has confidence in me.”

—  Downers Grove North junior Ava Gusel

Together, Gusel and Durkin are looking to carry on quite a pitching tradition at Downers Grove North. Former Trojan Estelle Czech is now a standout in college at Texas. Before her, Dale Ryndak pitched at Arizona State. Elaine Heflin, now an assistant at Illinois State, pitched at UIC.

Gusel in 21.1 innings this season has a 2.9 ERA with 26 strikeouts. Durkin in 19.0 innings has a 1.1 ERA with 42 strikeouts.

Gusel, whose older sister Audrey pitches at Holy Cross, said she was always told she wasn’t big enough to play at a high level. But a growth spurt since freshman year to 5-foot-7 helped, and so did Gusel’s dedication in the weight room.

She’s gained almost 30 pounds of muscle since freshman year. Gusel could barely touch 60 mph with her pitches as a freshman, but now throws 63 with greater spin. All that practice and devotion to her craft paid off when Gusel made her verbal commitment to DePaul in September.

“I was always told I was too small and too short, but I can’t change my height, so I told myself I’m going to work out and get as strong as I can. I feel good and confident in myself,” said Gusel, who said she likes to work out before school to set a productive tone for her day. “I’ve always consistently worked out. That added muscle is a big change, and for the better. All your power comes from your legs. You need to have strong legs when you pitch.”

While Gusel posted a 2.60 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 100 innings last spring to lead Downers Grove North to conference and regional championships, Durkin’s high school career was put on hold.

She was diagnosed with a fractured back at the end of February 2022, an injury that stemmed from overuse pitching, and was not cleared until the end of May.

Durkin managed for the freshman team and did physical therapy multiple times a week for three months. Her trainer came up with a program to slowly reintroduce softball and she started summer softball on a pitch-count limit. The training wheels clearly are off now, though. Durkin struck out 13 in a one-hit shutout of Nazareth two weeks ago.

“I was super excited to play,” Durkin said. “I’ve wanted to play high school softball since I was little, so I was excited to play this year.”

While Durkin counts her riseball as her favorite pitch, Gusel has been tinkering with her repertoire. She’s been trying to use her changeup more and tried a new way to throw her dropball a couple of weeks ago. She struck out 11 and allowed one earned run against Plainfield East last week.

“Last year I would just play around with [the drop] and see what works, but I wouldn’t throw it consistently and wasn’t as confident in it,” Gusel said. “The new way I throw it feels more natural. It almost feels faster than my other pitches. I’ve been utilizing that pitch a lot compared to last year.”

A young Trojans team is off to a 2-4-1 start, mainly because of an inability to generate offense. Downers Grove North has scored a total of four runs in its four losses. But Durkin believes things will turn around.

“Once we start putting together more hits and hitting the ball, we’ll be way more competitive,” Durkin said. “We have the pitching. Once we get a few more runs, we’ll be good.”

Katie Jensen leading the way for WW South

Wheaton Warrenville South senior Katie Jensen already is a two-time all-conference third baseman in the DuKane Conference. On this Tigers team, though, she’s slotted at shortstop.

Wherever she is, Jensen is without a doubt the leader of the team.

The Lewis University commit was batting .579 (11-for-19) with two doubles and a triple heading into the week. She’s solidified a young infield with juniors at second base and third base and a junior and sophomore rotating at first base.

“The kid never takes a rep off, let alone a day off,” WW South coach Jeff Pawlak said. “She is as high intensity of a kid that I have ever had, in a good way. She’s a total example for the other kids on how to approach games and practice.”

Two-way standout Maddie Pool, a junior who made a name for herself in the DuKane Conference as a sophomore, is 3-0 with 34 strikeouts over 23 innings and a 2.74 ERA. She is hitting .357 with a .444 on-base percentage out of the cleanup spot.

Junior Parker Leonard, who has been on varsity since she was a freshman and previously started in the outfield, is at second base and hitting .438 with five RBIs and a .500 on-base percentage.

Junior Brooke Struebing is batting .417 with three RBIs.

Other top performances

Returning starters Ava Heard and Ellie Adduci are off to hot starts for Glenbard West. Heard, a junior, is hitting .484 with three doubles and seven RBIs. The Hilltoppers’ No. 3 hitter is their starting catcher and also has played some first base. Cleanup hitter Adduci, a sophomore, is batting .480 with three doubles, two homers and seven RBIs. She’s struck out 44 over 30.1 innings in the circle.

“Ellie’s finally started to square up and hit the ball the last two weeks,” Glenbard West coach Mary McGrane said. “Her endurance on the mound has improved, which is allowing her to get stronger as the game goes on.”

Timothy Christian is off to a 5-0 start, 2-0 in conference. Kaleigh Sue Younglove and Maci Woerner have led the way in the circle with Younglove, Woerner and Sophia Mook the offensive leaders.

Across town at York, Madison Peck is leading the Dukes with a .433 batting average, Lilly Burda is hitting .423, and Avery Kanouse has 32 strikeouts over 32 innings.

At Riverside-Brookfield, junior catcher Zoe Levine, an all-area pick as a sophomore, has picked up right where she left off. Through nine games, Levine is hitting .615 with 11 doubles, two home runs and 14 RBIs for the 6-3 Bulldogs. Sophomore Ella Jurgens is off to quite a debut varsity season. Jurgens is hitting .692 with four doubles, one home run and five RBIs.

Willowbrook sophomore shortstop Sonia Ruchala continued her hot start to the season with a walk-off home run to beat Plainfield South. Ruchala is batting .483 with 10 RBIs and 10 runs and fielding at a .962 percentage. In the circle, much-improved Karman Rowe is 6-0 with 49 strikeouts.

Joshua  Welge

Joshua Welge

I am the Sports Editor for Kendall County Newspapers, the Kane County Chronicle and Suburban Life Media, covering primarily sports in Kendall, Kane, DuPage and western Cook counties. I've been covering high school sports for 24 years. I also assist with our news coverage.