Junior outfielder Leslie Klein has a plaque that sits above the right field wall honoring her All-American season in 2004.
Her plaque sits beside the plaques of past LSU greats like Kristin Schmidt, Trena Peel and Britni Sneed.
Although Klein is the only active player to have a plaque, she is different from all the other All-Americans.
When the Sunrise, Fla., native arrived at LSU, her two-time selection to the all-state team raised expectations for her freshman season.
“I knew she could be a five-tool player, meaning she can run, throw, hit it over the fence, lay down a bunt and steal bases,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard.
But before she ever stepped on the field, disaster struck.
During an intersquad game in the fall before her freshman season, Klein fell awkwardly after running down a fly ball in the outfield.
“When I went to go catch the ball, I kind of hesitated,” Klein said. “My leg went one way, and my knee went the other way. It was a freak accident.”
After an MRI, Klein received news that she had torn her right ACL. She did not see the field in her freshman season and received a medical redshirt from the NCAA.
Klein started a five and a half month rehab stint that involved everything from morning workouts to sideline drills while the rest of the team practiced.
“Sometimes I had to sit at home with an immobilization device to keep it stable,” Klein said. “Then I spent two hours every day in the training room doing flexibility and strength workouts. If the team was practicing on the field, I came out and did some drills so I could stay busy and not just sit on the bench.”
Klein returned the following year and was one of three LSU players that were selected to the 2004 All-American team.
Her 54 runs and 14 home runs helped LSU place third in the Women’s College World Series.
But as she was working out in the off-season, she injured herself again.
“I was in centerfield, and I ran into my right fielder,” Klein said. “She hit me the wrong way, and I knew that I tore my ACL again. As soon as we collided, I knew it had popped out of place.”
Klein said the trainer ran over and assured her that she did not have another tear.
“The trainer thought I just had a mental thing [about my first injury],” Klein said. “She said, ‘You are just nervous; you are just in shock.’ But I knew what it felt like, and I knew my body, so I was pretty sure that I had torn it again. I was thinking, ‘There is no way that this is happening again.’ In the next five minutes, I got an MRI ,and they found a tear.”
It was the ACL in the same knee, torn in almost exactly the same way – all before her sophomore year in college.
“The second injury kind of shocked me,” Klein said. “I was thinking, ‘This is my second injury; this is my bod;, this is my future.’ I didn’t know if I still wanted to play softball.”
Soon after the second injury, Klein met with Girouard and Athletics Director Skip Bertman to discuss her future as a softball player.
“Leslie [Klein] is one of the most talented athletes that we have ever had in softball,” Bertman said. “We wanted to make sure she was upbeat and enthusiastic about coming back.”
Klein said the meeting helped her feel better about returning to the field.
“They both reassured me that everything was going to be OK, and all the obstacles I will overcome will only make me stronger,” Klein said. With her medical redshirt gone and plenty of experience rehabilitating an ACL injury, Klein completed rehab in three-and-a-half months. She was able to return eight games into her sophomore season.
Steven Klein, Leslie’s father, said he gets nervous when he sees his daughter take the field.
“The second time, it seemed frustrating for her,” he said. “As a father, the last thing you want to see is your daughter get hurt. I want to be able to come to her house and see my [future] granddaughters without Leslie limping around because of a softball injury in college. But I see how much she loves softball and how much she loves playing for coach Girouard and LSU.”
But Klein was slow to return to her former self after the second operation. As she battled pain and inflammation, LSU missed the postseason for the first time since the WCWS began in 1998.
“We threw her back into the fire pretty quickly, probably quicker than we should have,” Girouard said. “I don’t think she was mentally, physically or emotionally ready to encounter that again. It took her almost a year to get that right mindset back.”
Klein has gotten that mindset back and has led No. 10 LSU back to national prominence. She is being considered for the All-American team again this season, batting a healthy .401average with seven home runs and 47 RBIs.
After all the hard work, the rehab and the pain, Klein said she has never regretted her decision to return to the game she loves.
“During my rehab, I questioned coming back and play softball every day,” Klein said. “There is always the question, ‘What if I do it again?’ I don’t think about it now though. I don’t doubt my decision to return one second in my mind.”
 
Contact Matt Vines at [email protected]