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Saluga has a Rock-solid career
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Champion High graduate Katie Saluga capped a terrific career at Slippery Rock by being named Pennsylvania State Athletic Association West Division player of the year.
By Joe Catullo Jr.
Trailing by one run in the bottom of the seventh inning on April 23, Katie Saluga dug in the batter’s box one last time at Slippery Rock’s softball complex.
With two runners aboard, Saluga had what she said is her most memorable moment — a walk-off three-run homer to defeat Gannon University, 10-8.
“It was unbelievable,” Saluga’s father, Scott, said. “For her just to pull through the way she did, she’s always been good under pressure. For her as an athlete, that was phenomenal. For her to end her career at home that way was just very overwhelming.”
Slippery Rock then lost a doubleheader at California University on April 26, officially ending Saluga’s playing career, a career that began at 3 years old.
“It’s been my passion since I could pick a bat up,” she said.
Scott Saluga didn’t want his daughter to feel left out or discouraged when his son was born. Katie Saluga was 3 years old when she first held a baseball bat. Scott Saluga always loved the game and passed on everything he knew to her.
“My dad has everything to do with softball,” Katie Saluga said. “He put countless hours on me with lessons, just everything with me. He is the reason why I am where I am. He pushed me really, really hard. I needed that, and it helped.”
Scott Saluga coached his daughter since she was 5 years old and later on his travel ball teams.
Katie Saluga was a three-year starting catcher for Slippery Rock. Her journey as a catcher began when she was 12 years old.
“Basically, when I was 12 nobody wanted to do it, and my dad said, ‘Katie, you’re up.’ So that’s how I got into catching,” she said.
Katie Saluga bounced from pitcher to catcher during those years. Scott Saluga said when she turned 13, she decided that pitching wasn’t for her.
“Katie didn’t like to lose, so it made her a great leader, and if there was anybody that I needed to depend on during a game to pull through, it was going to be Katie,” he said.
After graduating from Champion High, Katie Saluga took her talents to West Liberty University and was the starting shortstop her freshman year. During her career at Champion, Katie Saluga met another influential figure in her life, Dave Flickinger.
“He was my batting coach,” Katie Saluga said. “He is one of my biggest supporters and believers since I’ve been in high school. He always talks highly of me even when I would down myself. His support and my dad’s support got me through a lot.”
Flickinger followed Katie Saluga in high school and is good friends with Scott Saluga. Flickinger thought she was a good hitter but needed major improvements in hitting to all parts of a diamond.
“I think because of her dedication and her hard work, it never stopped her,” Flickinger said. “She started having tremendous success to where it got to a point where pitchers in that league at Slippery Rock really didn’t know how to pitch to her. There wasn’t a spot that she couldn’t hit it hard.”
As the starting shortstop at West Liberty, Katie Saluga appeared in all 43 games and started 40. She batted .235, drove in 20 runs and stole 10 bases. Katie wasn’t satisfied.
“Katie was really discouraged after her freshman season and actually wanted to call it quits,” Scott Saluga said. “Fortunate enough for me, she was eligible to play another year of travel ball. I kept her in the travel ball, I kept her spirits up, and her mother was the one who actually initiated the Slippery Rock deal.”
Katie Saluga got a call from The Rock one random day and became a walk-on.
“I liked the campus,” she said. “It was a small town compared to where I’m from, so I was kind of used to it. I transferred and took a chance.”
After transferring, Saluga knew she had a better chance of becoming the team’s starting catcher rather than shortstop. She never played another position again.
In her first year with The Rock, Katie Saluga started 26 of 31 games and batted .282 with four home runs and 21 RBIs. She was also once named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Hitter of the Week.
In 2012, she started 30 of the team’s 31 games behind the dish and batted .354 with 10 runs, 20 RBIs and 10 doubles. She finished second on the roster with a .521 slugging percentage, a .406 on-base percentage and 50 total bases.
This year, Katie Saluga did not miss an inning.
“I don’t want to know what I’m going to feel like when I’m 45 because I’m 22 and it already sucks,” she said laughing. “But I was the only one. No one else caught.”
She led her team with a .434 batting average, nine home runs and 32 RBIs.
“She was always ready to play; she was never down,” teammate Katie Kaiser said. “I know that one game she hurt her ankle pretty bad, and it swelled up really quick. She went over to the trainer, the trainer took care of it, and she went right back in the game.
“She’s a very talented athlete, and that makes me want to work hard to end up where she’s gotten.”
For her efforts, Katie Saluga was named the PSAC Western Division player of the year, earned first-team all-Atlantic Region honors and honorable mention All-America honors. Katie Saluga knew 2013 was a good year but never expected these honors.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of her,” Scott Saluga said. “She really worked hard this past winter. Her goal this year was just to be good with the bat. Never did we expect any of this.”
Katie Saluga has one more year at the Rock before graduating with a sports management degree. Though she has no years of eligibility remaining, she will return as an assistant coach.
“What I’ve seen from her with the Slippery Rock players, they look up to her and respect her,” Flickinger said. “She has a way of communicating with the players and her coaches that is really rare, so I think she’ll become one of the best coaches around at any level.”
When her team ended this season on April 26, Katie Saluga was heartbroken mainly because they almost made a tournament. She said she’s sad her playing career ended, but returning as a coach keeps that passion and love for the game alive and well.
“Hopefully when I’m done I can get a grad position somewhere and continue to do that because I don’t think I can walk away from the game,” she said. “It’s going to be a change, but it’s all I have left.”