Abby (Ruff) Smith
Softball (2001-2203)
Two-time All-Skyway First Team and All-Region selection
2003 Skyway Conference Player of the Year and NJCAA All-American nominee
Played at University of Iowa, Hawkeye’s Gold Glove winner
Big Ten Conference All-Academic Team
It is no coincidence that the revival of Waubonsee’s softball program coincided with the arrival of Abby Ruff Smith on the Sugar Grove campus in the fall of 2001. The diminutive slugger was a force on offense and a leader behind the plate as the team’s catcher. Simply stated, “Abby was our team’s field general,” says current softball head coach Perry Clark. Taking in a local game while on vacation in Iowa, Clark spotted the star catcher from Green Mountain Garwin High School in tiny Garwin, Iowa and persuaded the Iowa Star Conference’s Most Valuable Player to come to Waubonsee.
As a freshman in 2002 Smith was selected All-Skyway First Team, All-Region Second Team and First Team at the East/West Tournament. She captured a team ‘triple crown,’ leading the Lady Chiefs with a .382 batting average, 25 runs batted in and four home runs. Smith had a slugging percentage of .573, stole a dozen bases in 13 attempts and even threw out 19 of 21 base stealers. As the team’s undisputed leader as a sophomore, she elevated all aspects of her game. Smith was again tabbed All-Skyway First Team, leading the league in nearly every offensive category as the conference’s Most Valuable Player. The right-handed batter was once again named to the All-East/West Tournament First Team, was selected All-Region First Team and nominated for NJCAA All-American consideration, ranking in the top-25 nationally in four categories.
Smith posted a lofty .431 batting average, knocked in 40 runs and had a .750 slugging percentage with 108 total bases. She smacked 62 hits including 13 doubles, nine triples, and five home runs. Smith also scored 35 runs, stole nine bases and struck out only seven times in 153 at bats. Defensively she registered a .958 fielding percentage and threw out 29 of the 32 runners. “In my nearly 20 years of coaching, Abby is the only player I’ve been around who could have played every position on the field. She was that good of an athlete,” declares Clark.
Smith went on to the University of Iowa where the Hawkeyes moved her to third base. In 59 games played she compiled a .938 fielding percentage, earning Iowa’s Gold Glove Award. The following season Smith finished with a .940 fielding percentage, recording 135 infield assists in 59 games. The senior earned Big Ten Conference All-Academic honors and was also given the team’s Hawkeye Heart Spirit Award.
Smith graduated from the University of Iowa in 2006 with a degree in Health and Sports Study. She worked for five years at a nursing home in Guthrie Center, Iowa before completing a two-year degree from Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa. The last two years she has worked as a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer at Mercy Medical of North Iowa in Mason City. Smith and her husband Ryan reside in Manley, Iowa with their infant daughter Harper.