A Z-force: Marist's Angela Zedak is the 2019 Daily Southtown Softball Player of the Year

Once upon a time, Marist senior Angela Zedak was not a pitching ace.

She wasn’t even No. 2.

Or No. 3.

At age 10, she was the caboose on a very long train.

“It was when I tried out for the Oak Park Windmills,” Zedak explained. “The coach there was like, ‘There are eight pitchers on our team and you’re No. 8. You’re not going to pitch.’”

Before long, Zedak was pitching most of the innings each weekend. For the past three seasons, the Northwestern recruit has been No. 1 on Marist’s staff, helping lead two teams to state.

“It was just kind of crazy how it worked out,” Zedak said with a smile. “I’m grateful.”

Pitching, however, is only a part of what made Zedak the 2019 Daily Southtown Softball Player of the Year.

The right-handed slugger had a monster season at the plate, hitting .534 with 13 doubles and a program-record 22 home runs and 84 RBIs.

Zedak also holds the program’s career standard with 59 home runs. Her 239 RBIs put her first on the IHSA’s all-time career list. Nashville’s Shaye Harre had 231 from 2010 to 2013.

When she is at the plate, Zedak doesn’t mess around.

“I’m trying to hit it hard and far,” she said. “I have a leg kick which is very rare, and it helps me get on time with a lot of pitchers. I can hit change-ups well because I can stay up there longer.”

Marist coach Colleen Biebel called her the “heart and soul” of the program.

Her teammate and sophomore pitching partner Abby Dunning called her “the toughest, most baddest girl I know.”

Zedak kind of liked that.

“Yeah, I do, especially coming from Abby,” Zedak said, laughing. “I’ve known her since she was 7. Knowing her all these years, it’s really awesome to have that reputation with her.

“Abby plays (travel ball) with a lot of people going to Division I softball. For her to say that about me is an honor.”

Zedak was 21-2 as a pitcher this season, with 122 strikeouts and a 1.09 ERA in 115 innings. Her 57 pitching wins is also a career program record.

Most of those wins came with Cassie Lindmark behind the plate.

“I’ve played with Cassie since I was 10,” Zedak said. “It’s so awesome. She turns balls into strikes. She encourages me more than I can even ask for. She is basically like a sister to me.”

To simply say Zedak left a mark on Marist softball doesn’t cover it.

“I can’t imagine a lineup without Angela being there right in the middle,” Biebel said. “She’s the toughest kid I know and she’s also respectful. She has done everything and anything I have ever asked for from an athlete.

“Angela plays with a lot of heart and passion. She leaves it all out on the field every single time. That’s a kid you want in your lineup — a kid who will run through a fence for you. She is a really, really special kid.”

With some pretty special memories.

“I was talking to somebody who said, ‘Oh, I wish you could have won state,’” Zedak said. “I was like, ‘I had the opportunity to go there twice in four years.’ Some people don’t have the opportunity to go down there at all.

“Even though we did take fourth both times, it’s an experience I’ll never forget. I played alongside my best friends. I made my best friends through Marist who will probably be with me always. These have been the best four years of my life.”