LA CROSSE — The pounding his right shoulder took over the course of eight-plus football games clearly demonstrated Luke Baginski’s commitment to the sport and his West Salem High School teammates and coaches.
The senior wasn’t a one-sport standout when he suffered a torn labrum during the third week of the season at Viroqua. He had big plans for his final winter and spring seasons as a Panther, too. He’s a competitor.
But the thought of ending his last chance to play high school football was something he couldn’t entertain. Baginski said his parents pushed for immediate surgery, while he wanted to wait until the season was over.
“They had to be convinced a little bit,” he said with a smile. “I wanted to finish the season and try to help our team win a state championship.”
That dream didn’t pan out, but Baginski was out on that field to the bitter end. He even shifted from running back to quarterback when teammate Drew McConkey was injured. He threw passes with a torn labrum and finished his season with 1,478 rushing yards, 18 rushing touchdowns, two touchdown receptions, two TD passes and 40 tackles.
The process of completing what he started was both painful and fulfilling.
It also forced him to accept that his future was going to be rehabilitation instead of competition. Surgery can sideline an athlete for a year, but Baginski was ready to challenge that.
The basketball season couldn’t be saved — aside from a memorable two-minute stretch that he played in the final home game of the season — but he somehow kept both track and field and baseball in play. Baginski has been a successful jumper and designated hitter this spring despite a surgery date of Nov. 25.
“I was in a pretty big sling for about a month with no movement at all,” Baginski said. “They let me out of that the first week of January, and since then it’s been about strengthening and getting mobility back.
“It’s been six months now, and I haven’t gotten all my strength or mobility back. We’re working on that now.”
The push to participate in spring sports was met with hurdles.
Those, by the way, were out. A potential fall on the track would set him back significantly, so Baginski looked for another event.
He talked to his physical therapist about track first out of the desire to get faster for his future — at that point — as a football player at Winona State University.
“I wanted to compete again, and they said hurdles would not be a great idea, but they said I could run the 100 as long as it didn’t hurt my shoulder with the swinging of the arms,” Baginski said. “I said that felt fine and did it. They told me I probably shouldn’t jump, but I wanted to and we did some testing on my shoulder.
“They said it was strong enough to take a little bit of impact, so they let me jump.”
Baginski, whose college plan has since shifted to baseball at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minn., he’s been one of the area’s top jumpers this spring with a top triple jump of 43 feet, 3.75 inches — third-best n school history — and long jump of 19-6 1/2.
“I had to figure out how to run, hot to jump and how to land,” said Baginski, who has run the occasional 800-meter relay and was out there for the season-opening indoor meet at UW-La Crosse. “I was still a little iffy (after the first meet) and had some things to figure out.”
He has stuck to hitting in baseball despite being cleared recently for light throwing. Being a right-handed hitter, Baginski had to figure the timing of letting go of the bat with the injury being his back shoulder.
“I’m not supposed to be playing baseball because I was advised against it, but I’ve been playing baseball as long as I can remember,” said Baginski, who is batting .500 since missing the first five games. “I’ve never had a collision, I can tell myself not to slide head-first, and I can control those things.
“The swing doesn’t hurt at all because it’s my back shoulder. I let go with my right hand pretty early in the swing.”
