The Comeback Kid

Friday, July 10, 2009 

The Comeback Kid

(CSI: Photo)

There she was the starting centerfielder as a freshman on a promising young softball team at Mercy College in March of 2008.  It was the second game of her collegiate career and just two innings earlier she had collected her first hit, a hard single to centerfield. It was all coming together for Krissy Lacik (Edison, NJ), who had played and loved the game since she was four years old.

That's when it all came to a crashing halt in the bottom of the fifth inning at non-conference opponent Georgian Court.  A fly ball to right centerfield sent her to her left and right fielder Alicia Martin (Massapequa, NY) to her right.  The two collided and the ball got away. Lacik tried to get up and chase it down, but her body refused to cooperate.  It couldn't. More specifically, her right knee couldn't.

"I knew when I tried to get up and just fell back down that it wasn't good," Lacik said. "I didn't know exactly what happened, it was the first time I was ever hurt."

The rest of the team left for its Florida trip the next day, while she spent time in the office of Dr. Timothy Hosea at the RWJ University Orthopaedic Group in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

She was right, it wasn't good news. Lacik had more or less blown out every major ligament, and then some in the process. The Anterior Cruciate Ligament, Medial Collateral Ligament, Posterior Cruciate Ligament, Posterior Oblique Ligament and both menisci in her right knee were torn.  She was told that she would probably need at least 8-12 months of intensive rehabilitation after surgery before she could possibly play again.

"I was really upset. I knew I wasn't going to play that season. It was very difficult to watch the team go on without me."

Two weeks later she had her knee surgically repaired and started the rehabilitation program just two days after that at the Sports Physical Therapy Institute (SPTI) in Somerset, New Jersey. Lacik's main physical therapist was Jeffrey Erickson who coordinated the rehabilitation with Dr. Hosea. Erickson and the staff at SPTI worked with Lacik three times a week at the beginning, three grueling times a week that she would have like to put out of her mind.

"Those were some of the toughest days," Lacik said. "I cried. Sometimes I cried before I even started the sessions. The pain of trying to gain the range of motion and strengthen the knee again was terrible."

Despite the sacrifices she was making, and the near torturous experience, it didn't stop Lacik from going back and working hard.

"I love playing softball. I knew I was doing it for the right reason, to get back on that field again," Lacik said.

A few months later, the painful hours she spent being stretched, bent, pushed, and pulled in all different directions, began to pay off.  By July, she was finally off her crutches and was able to do some things on her own.  Lacik was now doing exercises such as lateral shuffles, step-ups, leg presses and curls, and even started riding a stationary bicycle.

By the fall season, just six months after her surgery, Lacik was cleared to begin some softball activities, defying the original prognosis of 8-12 months. She wasn't able to make quick lateral cuts yet in the outfield, but was able to hit.

"I was so excited, but frustrated too. I couldn't do everything I did before," said Lacik.

Prior to the injury, she utilized her speed as a major part of her game. She had the green light to steal when she got on base and was able to slap from the left side of the plate.  Now she wasn't permitted to slide, let alone steal, and was forced to change her game completely, even making a move to right field.

While she was frustrated with some aspects, it was alright with her as long as she could play again.  By January of 2009, 10 months after the surgery, she was cleared to do just that. That's when her doctor told her that he did not expect her to be able to play again at first, but did not want to tell her that for risk of Lacik not completing the rehabilitation.

(CSI: Photo)

"That didn't matter to me. I just thought, thank God, it's great to have no restrictions. Coach told me to take it easy anyway, but that just wasn't me.  I couldn't wait to get out there."

After an encouraging pre-season with no real setbacks other than some occasional soreness and fatigue, the 2009 campaign got underway with the team's annual trip to Florida.  The long road on the comeback trail was coming to an end.

"I was really nervous. I hadn't seen live pitching for a year," said Lacik. "But once I got out there, it felt like it did before.  I was very happy to finally be playing again."

There were no signs of any rust from the start.  In that first game, all she did was go 1-for-2 with a run scored, a walk, a hit by pitch and a run batted in.  The hit came in the eighth inning and broke a 7-7 tie in what would be a 9-8 win over St. Anselm.

While she was playing well and feeling well physically, she points to a doubleheader against ECC foe Molloy as when she felt satisfaction for what she had gone through.  The Mavericks had won the first game 2-0 and rallied from six runs down to complete the sweep with a 15-14 win in game two, a game in which Lacik went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in.

"Those were our first conference wins of the year.  It felt really worth it at that point. I just wanted to be back playing with the girls."

Five days later it must have felt even more worth it for her as she went 4-for-4, belting not one, but her first two collegiate home runs in a 12-7 triumph over Briarcliffe.

"That was the turning point for me. To hit my first two home runs in another win, it was great, I was so excited.  Everything felt good, even running."

Lacik finished the year with a solid .299 batting average, five doubles, two home runs, and ranked second on the squad with 20 runs batted in.  She played an integral part in the program's most successful season since the 1987 campaign and helped mold the team into an ECC contender for the future under first year head coach Jen Hastings. 

A true student-athlete, she also takes pride in her work in the classroom as she earned a spot on this year's ECC Commissioner's Honor Roll and has compiled a 3.32 cumulative grade point average.  Throw in her work as one of the most active members of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee in which she helped raise over $1,000 for breast cancer awareness and Lacik had a year that earned her the East Coast Conference's John Smillie Award, which is presented to the student-athletes who have overcome personal and/or physical challenges and hardships to participate and contribute to their institution's intercollegiate athletic program.

(CSI: Photo)

"It's an honor to receive the John Smillie Award," Lacik said. "This is a special award in the name of a special individual. Every student-athlete, especially an injured one, knows how important it is to have a good and caring athletic trainer. I was fortunate to have the assistance, encouragement, and patience of my trainer, physical therapist, and coaches."

Along with her doctor and physical therapists, Lacik also credits the support of her teammates and parents, Fred and Kathy, for getting her through it all.

"My mom and dad were so supportive and the girls were texting me all through the season, telling me how they were doing, that they missed me and how they wished I was back."

Even with the success of her return, Lacik is not done yet.  She plays with a U23 team, the Edison Angels and wears a brace as she is already preparing for her junior year in 2009-10.

"My goals for next year are to bat over .300, help our team get to the ECC Tournament, and remain injury free. It feels good now.  I'm still learning how to slide again, but the whole experience has been worth it.  I always wanted to play until I just couldn't anymore.  Not because of an injury, but because of age. I was returning no matter what."

And so the comeback for Krissy Lacik continues.