Watching Justin Zaleski work on the mound this season brought a smile to Phil Kluesner's face.

In a way, it reminded Kluesner (a St. Louis Cardinals fan no less) of Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks, who is nicknamed "The Professor" for his Dartmouth degree and baseball IQ, which allows him to be successful without being overpowering.

With "velocity" and "spin rate" the buzzwords of the moment when it comes to pitching, Zaleski instead leaned on "acumen" and "accuracy" to earn the title of the 2023 Herald-Times Baseball Player of the Year.

"He's just a smart player," Kluesner said. "Somebody we had to convert to a pitcher out of necessity the year before at the end. He looked pretty good. Then he was huge for us. We would not have had the season we did if he was not able to do what he did."

Armed and ready

Zaleski was a middle infielder by trade who had a chance to pitch a bit toward the end of the 2022 season. Kluesner saw enough to have him work on it in the off-season when it was apparent injuries would keep their expected ace, senior Nico Walters, out of action for most of this year. Still, Kluesner was more hopeful than anything.

Zaleski had a four-seam fastball that at its best hit 80 mph. He had a curveball and a decent changeup. Which made him like a lot of other high school pitchers, save a couple of key differences.

"He understood what he could do and what his pitches could do," Kluesner said. "He could hit all four quadrants. We split the plate in half, on an x-y axis. He changed speed just enough to keep it off the barrel. It was the mishits that got me. And he could keep his pitch count low, getting guys to hit it off the end of the bat. We talk about getting an out with four pitches or less."

Zaleski went 8-1, the only loss thanks to some fielding mistakes against Jasper. He went 4-0 in Conference Indiana games and his teammates' bats came through in the other. He had a 2.66 ERA and struck out 38 while walking 17 in 55 1/3 innings, more than any other pitcher in the area.

The volume was just a part of it as nearly every big game, from Lake Central to Bloomington North, Zaleski was called to start.

"I think it's refreshing not having to overpower people," Kluesner said. "It shows pitching is about controlling your pitches in certain quadrants. He had command of his curveball and fastball. He knew how to set guys up."

The art of 'setting guys up' was Zaleski's MO. Getting ahead and making sure to set up his out pitch, by changing speeds and eye level, with an inside fastball perhaps to set up a curve on the outside corner. He could 'funnel' his pitches, so a fastball and a curve looked the same coming out of his hands.

"He didn't have a wipeout pitch to get a strikeout on demand," Kluesner said.

The ability to throw an off-speed pitch consistently over the plate led to plenty of swings and misses, but with a solid defense behind him, he could pitch to contact all day and stack up outs faster than Ks.

But it is the end of the line for Zaleski, who is taking his brains to IU's Kelley School of Business this fall.

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"He's ultra-intelligent," Kluesner said. "He was academic all-state by a long shot. Off the charts. He used his baseball sense and a lot of times, I didn't have to call a pitch. I could see what he was doing, setting guys up for the next pitch. He could get them out early and it was very refreshing example to the other guys that you don't have to always throw it by them.

"He had an extraordinary season us. I didn't expect what we did. We had injuries and we had people like him step up."

2023 Herald-Times All-Area Baseball

FIRST TEAM

LUCAS ALEXANDER, North, Sr. P/3B

One of the top arms for a staff that spread the innings over several pitchers. Finished 4-0 with one save and a 1.87 ERA over 30 innings. Walked only eight and struck out 26. Signed with Ohio Christian. Repeat All-Area.

BRAYDEN BLEVINS, South, Sr. 3B/P

Took care of the hot corner for Panthers, while hitting .299 (29-97) with five doubles, a team-high 22 RBI and 15 runs scored. Fanned just 11 times. Went 1-1 on the mound with a 5.25 ERA over 13 1/3 innings. All-CI. Will play at Southeastern Illinois.

CARSON DRUCKREY, Edgewood, Jr. P/2B

Hit .347 (25-72) with a team-high 22 RBI and was one of the Mustangs' most dependable arms. Went 2-1 with a save and a 2.71 ERA, struck out 28 and walked just 13 over 31 innings pitched. All-WIC.

GRAHAM FREUND, North, Jr. OF/P

Played a big role for Cougars again this year. Solid on the mound, going 5-0 with a save and a 1.91 ERA over 18 1/3 innings. At the plate, hit .329 (26-79) with 10 doubles, 1 homer, 17 RBI and five steals. Had three assists and just one error in the field. All-CI.

ANDREW GOOD, Edgewood, Jr. 1B

Hit .405 (30-74) with a .477 on-base percentage and .486 slugging percentage. Had four doubles and 18 RBI and scored 16 runs.

MACK HEADDY, Edgewood, Jr. LF

Leadoff hitter for the Mustangs, Hit .351 (27-77) with a .474 on-base percentage, four doubles, 13 RBI and 24 runs scored, drew a team-high 17 walks, stole eight bases. All-WIC.

CADEN MCCOY, North, Jr. P

Cougars staff ace got off to a slow start after a shoulder issue but finished 2-2 with a 3.37 ERA with 40 strikeouts and only seven walks in 27 innings against the toughest teams on North's schedule. Batted .443 (35-79) with three homers, seven doubles and 21 RBI while drawing 15 walks. Texas A&M commit. All-CI. Third-time All-Area.

CONNOR OSBORNE, South, So. OF

South's top everyday hitter, batting .344 (31-90) with a .454 on-base percentage. Scored 24 runs and drove in 17. Had six doubles and drew 15 walks. All-CI.

JACKSON ROBERTS, North, Sr. SS/P

Multi-threat athlete on the infield. Batted .278 (22-79) with two homers, 11 RBI and six stolen bases. Led Cougars in sacrifices, with three bunts and four sac flies. Had a .951 fielding percentage. Closer on the mound with four saves and a 2.57 ERA over 16 1/3 innings. All-CI. Will play at Marietta (Ohio).

REECE WAGNER, North, Sr. 1B

Made the most of his first and only year as a starter and was a strong threat at the bottom of the order batting .377 (26-69) with 15 RBI and nine stolen bases. All-CI.

LUCAS WALDON, South, Jr. SS

Catalyst at the top of the order before injury ended his season early. Batted .325 (27-83) scored a team-high 32 runs and walked 23 times while striking out just 14. Had 13 RBI and two triples and a .467 on-base percentage. Stole a team-high 13 bases. All-CI.

JUSTIN ZALESKI, South, Sr. P/2B

H-T Player of the Year stepped up in a huge way when the Panthers needed some pitching punch. Went 8-1, including a 4-0 record in Conference Indiana games, with a 2.66 ERA. Had 38 strikeouts to just 17 walks over 55 1/3 innings. At the plate, batted .221 and scored 13 runs. Just four errors in 78 chances. All-CI.

SECOND TEAM

LUKE ABRAM, Eastern Greene, Sr. 1B: Elder on a young squad batted .339 (19-56) with seven doubles, 12 RBI and 10 runs scored after recording a .456 on-base percentage.

BRAYDEN AULT, Edgewood, Jr. UTIL/P: hit .338 (23-68) with an OPS of .918 and slugging percentage of .500, eight doubles and a homer, 13 RBI. As a pitcher, went 1-1 with 28 strikeouts to just 12 walks over 17 innings. 2.89 ERA.

JACOB BOGGS, Edgewood, Jr. P: Went 3-3 over seven starts with 35 strikeouts in 32 innings with a 4.59 ERA. Also hit .333 with two doubles.

WILL INMAN, Eastern Greene, So. SS: T-Birds top run scorer at 18 with a .407 on-base percentage. Batted .313 (21-67) with 14 RBI, three doubles and five stolen bases. All-SWIAC.

ISAAC LAWSON, Edgewood, Jr. SS: Hit .321 (25-78) with a .424 on-base percentage. Had six doubles and two triples, 11 RBI, stole seven bases and a team-high 25 runs scored. All-WIC

WILL LAWSON, Edgewood, So. CF: Leading hitter for the Mustangs at .421 (32-76) with a .494 on-base percentage. 10 RBI, 15 runs scored, struck out just six times, stole 16 bases.

JACK LEONARD, North, Jr. P: Part of a deep staff for the Cougars, had a breakout performance going 4-2 with a 1.35 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 31 innings.

PEYTON LEWIS, Eastern Greene, So. P/DH: Area's top basher with five home runs and a .600 slugging percentage. Had 16 RBI and scored 15 runs while batting .300 (21-70).

ALEX SHAEVITZ, South, Jr. P: Panthers needed pitching help with Nico Walters out nearly all the season and he stepped up, going 5-3 with a 3.72 ERA and 36 strikeouts.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South's Justin Zaleski leads H-T all-area baseball team