We hear so often today about the “work-life balance.”
Bandits outfielder Morgan Zerkle is managing the coach-player balance, and she’s managing just fine, thank you.
Zerkle is a charter member of Athletes Unlimited, having made her debut during the inaugural 2020 Championship Season (now called the All-Star Cup).
While Zerkle still finds great satisfaction in playing softball as she approaches her 30th birthday, she finds as much joy in serving as the head softball coach at her beloved alma mater, Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
“It’s been awesome,” said Zerkle, who took the top job at Marshall in June of 2023. “I’m right where I want to be, doing what I want to do. I think I’m meant to be a head coach. To do it in my hometown is really amazing. We have great community support. Year 2 was really fun because Year 1 is just a lot. But Year 2, it was nice to kind of settle in and get to know the team well. To come here and play, I just couldn’t wish for anything better.”
Zerkle is one of the most prolific leadoff hitters in AU history, displaying bat control, speed and power. She also patrols center field like she is guarding hallowed ground.
During the early days of the 2025 Athletes Unlimited Softball League season, she collected the first hit and hit the first inside-the-park home run in league history.
“First hit of AUSL history, I know the girls were all going crazy for that,” said Bandits teammate Sydney McKinney. “I think it’s really cool for them. It’s kind of, ‘If you can see it, you can be it.’ She’s a head coach, and she’s still playing. And the girls love that. It’s just a really cool situation.”
Playing against the Volts on June 12, Zerkle displayed a strong arm by starting an 8-2 double play and nailing a runner at home plate to keep the game tied at 5-5 before the Bandits went on to win in the bottom of the inning.
In other words, Zerkle was leading by example.
“She’s been a great leader to me, on and off the field since I’ve gotten here,” McKinney said. “I feel like I see a lot of myself in her. It just feels like she’s like the older version of me. She’s done it. She’s come from the mid-majors. She has struggled. She has started. She has been the nine (hitter). She has been the one (hitter).
“She has a lot of perspective and a lot of experience that is very calming and very helpful with whatever you’re going through. I think she connects with a lot of people in a lot of different situations. So it’s just cool that I’m able to play with her and am able to bounce hitting and ideas off of her.”
Bandits coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz knows she can rely on Zerkle, both on and off the field.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Literally the ultimate triple threat. She can drop a bunt. She can hit for average. Steal bases. She’s phenomenal at the top of the lineup. The leadership piece, just so mature in her process. I think it’s a great example for some of our younger athletes. This is what professionals do. This is how they respond to failure. This is how they go to work every day – never satisfied, always thinking they can get better and grow. That’s what I think this game is.
“I love that she’s in that top spot, and in our clubhouse, the way that she communicates is top notch.”
Being a college coach can be all-consuming, not only during the spring season, but also with recruiting and caring for the well-being of players.
But the dual roles of coach by spring and player by summer enable Zerkle to use each role to benefit the other. When she’s coaching, she understands what her players are enduring. And when she is playing for AUSL, she can appreciate the coaching she receives from the Bandits staff.
“I think both go hand in hand,” she said. “To have both perspectives and being able to switch your brain from one to the next but also understand as a player, ‘Hey, I understand why Coach did that because I would have done that.’ And as a player, ‘Oh well, they made a mistake, but that happens; I’ve done that.’ So it definitely is good to have those multiple perspectives.”
McKinney concurs.
“Yeah, absolutely,” she said. “I think she does a great job relating to the girls. She kind of leads them the same way, with her experience of playing. The girls really lean into that, and they think it’s really cool that she still plays and still gets out there.”
Zerkle also leads in Athletes Unlimited as a member of the Player Executive Committee, which collaborates with front office staff on many aspects of the organization. The PEC had input as AU added the team-based league to its longtime format of an individual leaderboard where players earn points for their team and individual performances that will continue to be used in the All-Star Cup this August.
“I think once we saw an opportunity (for traditional play), which they gave us, we were like, ‘Yes, let’s jump right in and do it,’” Zerkle said. “Really the PEC has say on the day-to-day operations of the league and those sorts of things. But we impacted the roster size to get an extra pitcher in the league and all of that. They just come to us with any questions they have about what could make it great and work.”
Zerkle says she will continue playing softball “as long as my body is able and I can manage both (playing and coaching).” She also marvels at how far Athletes Unlimited softball has come since 2020, when the COVID pandemic forced teams to play in an empty stadium in Rosemont, Illinois.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “It’s a tribute to the people who believed in softball and believed in us athletes and the growth that could come. Fighting through the pandemic and this (scoring) system that they implemented – it was fun. And now, to grow even more, it’s just a huge tribute to the people who are investing in softball and it’s what we love to see.”
Bruce Miles has covered sports in the Chicago area for 46 years, including baseball, hockey, football and Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball. He covered the Chicago Cubs in their historic run to the World Series title in 2016. He has written stories for Athletes Unlimited since 2020.
Follow Bruce on Bluesky @brucemiles2112.bsky.social and on X @brucemiles2112
