Ankle Injury Forces Lexi Kuka To Reevaluate Recruitment

Following a spectacular junior season for Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, California, in which she pitched nearly three-quarters of her team's innings and led the Knights to a 23-5 record, Lexi Kuka's future was all laid out in front of her.   Kuka was named the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division Pitcher of the Year in 2024 with an 18-4 record and a 1.42 ERA in 128 1/3 innings, striking out 151 batters and walking just 25. Also a standout in the classroom, Kuka was all set to sign with Williams College in Massachusetts, an NCAA Division III program and the best liberal arts college in the United States, according to the U.S. News & World Report rankings.   But throughout the spring and into the summer, Kuka had been experiencing a sharp, stabbing pain in her left ankle—her landing foot—while pitching. At the Colorado Sparkler Tournament, the biggest travel softball event of the summer, the pain became so unbearable that Kuka had to fly home early and see a doctor. The scar tissue in her ankle had built up to the point where she needed surgery, throwing her future in the pitcher's circle into uncertainty.   "I was really, really into the process with Williams," Kuka said. "That's where I wanted to go. I was getting ready to sign. I wanted more of a high academic school, and I worked really hard to maintain good grades throughout my high school years for that reason. And just because I was injured and they needed somebody right then, we had to stop the process."   Kuka began playing with San Mateo Youth Softball at age 5, starting in tee ball before taking up pitching as an 8-year-old. After attending weekend clinics, she and her family connected with Eryn McCoy, then Hillsdale's star pitcher who would go on to play Division I softball at Saint Mary's College across the San Francisco Bay in Moraga.   McCoy, in 489 career innings for the Knights, was 62-17 with a 1.23 ERA and struck out more than seven batters for every walk she issued, leading Hillsdale to the PAL Bay title as a senior in 2016. Now the Knights' head coach, McCoy was more than happy to give some pointers to the girl who would follow in her footsteps as Hillsdale's future ace.   "Lexi has always been one of the most dedicated and determined kids I have ever met," McCoy said. "You present her a challenge, she's going to find any way to go out of her way just to make sure it gets done. She puts in more work than anyone I know, she's always asking for extra reps, she's always asking how to get better and looking to improve. It's just been really cool to see (her grow) since she was 8 now to almost 18."   Kuka joined the SMYSA's summer select team, the Slammers, and eventually caught on with her first travel team, the San Mateo-based Eagles. In 2023, she and her travel coach, Nick Dykes, both joined Warrior Academy—one of Northern California's top travel softball organizations—and her games and tournaments began attracting college coaches.   Dykes has worked with Kuka since she was 12, and, like McCoy, he was immediately impressed with her work ethic.   "She had this one season where she was sort of questionable whether she would make the league all-star team," Dykes said. "The next fall, I would drive by the field and there was this kid out there every single day. And finally I stopped and I was talking to her dad, and he was like, 'She's going to make sure that there's never a question whether she makes a team or not.' That's the one thing about her, she's got a lot of drive."   Kuka kept improving each year and played on the varsity team at Hillsdale as a freshman. But her heavy workload began to take a toll, and by last summer, the pain in her ankle was too much to pitch through. An MRI revealed no major damage, so she received a cortisone shot to try and reduce the inflammation.   That worked for around two weeks, at which point she needed another one, and eventually she had no choice but to have two arthroscopic surgical procedures to clear out the tissue. Doctors cut the ligament on the outside of Kuka's ankle, drilled holes into the bone and reattached it with a suture. Kuka was off her feet for two and a half weeks and started walking again in a boot in October.   The recovery has led Kuka to reevaluate her recruiting process, and she is unsure whether she will still be able to play in college. She has applied to schools strictly for academics, and in the mean time found new hobbies like photography and creative writing.   "I have a different mental approach to the game now because I realized that it's such a privilege," Kuka said. "Going back into pitching and playing, I will definitely have a more cautious approach, thinking about every little thing that my body is doing. More intentional movements and making sure I'm landing in a way that will make it less likely to roll over and sprain my ankle again is going to be huge."   Kuka also works on pitching with Nicole Quigley-Borg, the head coach at a top nearby junior college, and said Quigley-Borg will be able to help improve her landing position. Her goal is to be ready for the start of her final high school season in early March, even if it means lightening her workload a bit.   College will be there for Kuka, regardless of whether it involves softball. The injury and recovery process have helped her focus on the present moment.   "I'm just excited to get back out on the field and help out my team in any way possible," Kuka said. "So if that's taking over at first base so someone else can get in to pitch or swinging the bat or just picking up a few innings when I can, I'm just excited for the season. Overall, no matter what, our team is going to have a really good year."

Following a spectacular junior season for Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, California, in which she pitched nearly three-quarters of her team's innings and led the Knights to a 23-5 record, Lexi Kuka's future was all laid out in front of her.