She doesn’t have to take round after round of batting practice, or spend hours in the cages, or study opposing pitchers to get the right jump on the base paths, or keep her arm limber to make run-saving throws from center field.
So far, Zaleski is OK with all of that.
A troublesome shoulder, a coaching change, the retirement of a longtime teammate and the prospect of a steady employment made the timing seem right for Zaleski to bring an end to her professional softball playing days.
“I’ve had some shoulder issues and I was moving back to Texas and getting a job here,” said Zaleski, 27, a 2000 Temple High School graduate who recently started a job with the Williamson County juvenile probation department. “I finally felt like I’d be OK with a decent salary and benefits.
“I’ve accepted (retirement) and I’ve never fixed my shoulder,” she said. “I was working during the day and had to hurry over to play in a game. There was just so much going on. I never officially retired. I was just done playing. It was time.”
It’s also the first season that the Rockford Thunder as a National Professional Fastpitch franchise will be without Zaleski and second baseman Lindsay Gardner, who were with the team in its first three years in Houston and the subsequent two in Rockford, Ill. Zaleski and Gardner will have their numbers retired in a July 18 ceremony.
Zaleski has been the catalyst for the Thunder and one of the fledgling league’s centerpieces for five years.
She was the league MVP in 2005, leading NPF in batting average (.468), hits (65), stolen bases (33) and triples (10). She is the franchise’s all-time leader in average, at-bats, runs, hits, steals, doubles, triples and walks. She narrowly missed gaining a spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team coming out of a stellar career at Texas State.
Not a bad career’s work.
When talk of Temple’s best all-time female athlete surfaces, it doesn’t take long for Zaleski’s name to be bandied about. And it wasn’t because she was a singularly minded softball drone.
Zaleski was a five-sport great - now a virtually extinct breed at the Class 5A level. She was highly decorated in volleyball, basketball, softball and track and field and ran cross-country until her senior year.
As good young athletes continue to either be pigeonholed into one team sport either of their own accord, their parents’ or subtly - or even not so subtly - by some high school coaches, the multi-sport athletes are getting rarer at the larger schools.
Zaleski understands the logic behind the growing trend of specialization but not the practicality of it.
“It’s even worse in the east,” she said. “For some reason the coaches want certain athletes and don’t let them play other sports. I’ve seen girls who want to run track and the coaches don’t like it. What’s wrong with representing your school?
“I like it when players compete in other sports,” she added. “The more athletic you are, it’s only going to help you in any sport. Now, it’s just all about mechanics.”
Of course, it wasn’t easy for Zaleski being so active in so many sports, particularly those that ran concurrently. She shuttled back and forth from the track to the softball diamond throughout high school. She was a top-flight middle distance runner until she gave up cross-country. Former Temple track and field coach Kay Bacon entered her in the 300-meter hurdles at the district meet her senior year - a race Zaleski had never run - and she qualified for the regional meet without knowing the steps involved.
Being an all-around athlete didn’t keep Zaleski from being a highly sought-after softball player by major colleges. She was the quintessential left-handed-hitting leadoff batter, using her speed to get on with a bunt or drive the ball into the gaps for doubles and triples. She decided on Texas State over Iowa State and Baylor.
It did become about refining her mechanics at the college level.
“I got so much better,” she said. “I used to just get my rips in and go. It’s crazy now how girls are taking lessons at younger and younger ages. I didn’t even start playing until I was 10. Softball has really grown.”
Zaleski adapted well. She hit .440 her senior year of 2004 with the Lady Bobcats and led the team in virtually every significant offensive category before vaulting to the pros.
Zaleski has been one of NPF’s best ambassadors in a sport in which college and Olympic softball suffocates almost all talk of the pro game.
NPF is a cash-strapped five-team league with franchises in Rockford, Akron, Philadelphia, Chicago and another barn-storming all-star team called USSSA Pride, which replaced the recently defunct Washington Glory. It was frustrating for Zaleski to watch the Women’s College World Series on television and hear nary a mention of NPF.
“I think it can get there,” said Zaleski, who coaches a 16-and-under tournament team. “There’s just not a lot of money right now to get the message of the sport out there. Taking (softball) out of the Olympics, I don’t know if that’s going to help us or hurt us.”
Every sport has its pioneers regardless of the level of success it achieves. With the numbers she posted and the goodwill she spread, Zaleski has already written one of the first chapters on the history of professional softball in America.
