Leah Gronberg Hood played softball at Union from 2001-2004, earning NAIA All-America honors all four seasons. She was named conference and region pitcher of the year, while also being named TranSouth All-Conference and all-region four times each. She earned NAIA Scholar Athlete twice. She was also a four-time National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) All-American and Academic All-American.
Hood appears in the Union University softball record book numerous times. Some of her records include No. 1 in career winning percentage (.920), No. 2 in career wins (102), career ERA (1.07), no-hitters in a season (6), No. 3 in innings pitched (804), appearances (129), starts (119), career no-hitters (8), and No. 4 in career strikeouts (758). At the end of her career in 2004, she was just the fourth player in NAIA history to win 100 career games.
During her career, Hood was a key contributor during Union softball's most successful era. In that four years from 2001-04, Union softball won four TranSouth Regular Season Titles, two TranSouth Tournament Titles, three NAIA Region Titles, three NCCAA National Championship Titles, and four trips to the NAIA National Tournament. Union's best ever NAIA finish was a third place finish in 2001. That season, Hood was 29-3 with a 0.94 ERA, helping Union to a school record 63 wins.
Hood earned Union's Fred DeLay Award, the top award given to a graduating athlete. She was also recognized as the Jackson Madison County Hall of Fame Female Athlete of the Year from Union in 2004.
Hood and her husband Zeb have been married for 17 years. The couple has four boys, Kai 16, Jax 14, Kier 10, and Jude 8. She has been teaching and coaching softball at her high school alma mater, A&M Consolidated, for the last three years. Outside of working, she enjoys chasing her boys around and watching them play their various sports.
