Mitchell to play softball for Mizzou Tigers
Miah Mitchell, a Chester High School 2018 graduate, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball at the University of Missouri beginning this fall.
Mitchell has been scouted by Mizzou staff since she was a sophomore Lady Jacket softball player at Chester High School and has never really even considered playing anywhere else than at Mizzou.
She played softball all four years at CHS. As a sophomore, Mitchell remembers having Mizzou scouts looking at her and she immediately had a dream of playing for the University of Missouri Lady Tigers in college.
"I did OK my freshman year, but it wasn't until my sophomore year that I began to come around," she said.
She played for Coach Wade Miller her freshman year in the spring of 2015. Her sophomore year, Tracy Colvis became the Lady Jacket's Head Coach. During the spring of 2016 Mitchell played well and established herself as a major player in the Black Diamond Conference and in Southern Illinois in general.
As a sophomore, Mitchell earned a place on the 1st Team All-Conference in the BDC. She was also selected to the All-State squad and earned the "Offensive MVP" award for the Lady Jackets team. As a sophomore, Miah hit 10 home runs for the Lady Jackets.
"That sophomore summer I attended a Mizzou Summer Softball Camp," Mitchell said, " We worked hard all day. I played very well that week. At that point I was really convinced that I wanted to go to Mizzou and play for the Tigers.
"Playing for the Mizzou Tigers was my dream. University of Missouri was my dream school. Mizzou staff came to watch me play at various events after that. It was surreal to have them actually interested in me," she added.
Mitchell said she didn't think she did well in her junior, in spite of having hit eight home runs. That junior year was, however, quite a season as Mitchell made the BDC All-Conference Team again, and was selected to the 2017 All-South Team.
It was quite an adjustment having all eyes on me all the time," she said.
During the 2018 senior season, Mitchell had fun, performed well and ended her high school career on a high note.
"My senior year was so much fun. We did not do the best in the conference standings, but we played together as a team and were all great friends and leaned on each other in hard times", said Mitchell.
Mitchell noted that the Lady Jackets lost five very prominent starters to graduation in 2017, so there were quite a few shoes to fill. The incoming freshmen, however, and other underclassmen did a great job of stepping up athletically, and the great teamwork of the ladies helped to make 2018 a fantastic season.
"The atmosphere was light and fun this year. We played as a team and worked hard. I really appreciated the girls this season. They made my senior year exceptionally memorable. We were all friends. We even had a group chat and maintained constant contact all season."
Mitchell's senior year was very good from a statistical standpoint. She had 86 times at bat and only struck out four times. She recorded 12 home runs and earned the Lady Jacket's team MVP award.
Mitchell was the Black Diamond Conference "All-Conference" Co-Team Captain. She also made the All-Conference Squad and was selected as a member of the All-South Team and the All-State Team.
Regarding other aspects of her life at Chester High School, Mitchell said she loved English class with Mrs. Ray. She also loved Math class with Mr. Spears and Family Consumer Science with Mrs. Petrowske.
Throughout her summers, Mitchell played on a traveling softball team including Fall Softball, the Marion Illinois Force, and earlier on the Chester Unleashed Team with Coach Tracy Colvis.
"I want to thank my coaches, Tracy Colvis, Dan Colvis, Ryan Petrowske and my Dad, Craig Mitchell for all of the support, coaching and guidance throughout the years. It means a lot to me to have had such great help to get me to where I now am athletically and as a young lady", said Mitchell.
Colvis added "it is great to see a kid that you've coached since the age of five set a goal and work to achieve it.
"I had Miah in my CGS kindergarten class and even then she had a competitive edge," Colvis added. "She always wanted to race all of the boys at recess and she would usually beat them and come back into class smiling ear-to-ear."
Mitchell has already been at Mizzou taking a summer class and working out with fellow players "on their own" at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex, known to the University of Missouri Athletes as the MATC.
"I got to meet many of my Mizzou teammates when I went to the University of Missouri for my official visit in November," Mitchell said. "I got to stay in the dorms and they treated us very well.
"My parents are very supportive and they are naturally very proud of me. We are all very excited and I feel like I am going to get my fair shot at earning playing time with the Lady Tigers," she added.
Mitchell spent the month of June at Mizzou taking a class titled, "SSC" which all athletes have to take. The class is designed to acclimate athletes to college life and help in the transition from high school to life at a major university. She stayed in a dorm and worked out on her own at the MATC.
When she returns to campus in August, Mitchell and her Tiger teammates will begin fall softball and get playing time while Head Coach Larissa Anderson gets a look at her 2019 spring squad.
Anderson is the new head coach at Mizzou and Mitchell is of the opinion that she is coming into the Tiger Softball Program at a good time when both players and coaches will be fresh and new.
"I will study Health Science the at University of Missouri," she added. "There I will earn a bachelor's degree after which I will enter a branch of the United States Military. They will help me get the training to become a physician assistant."
After that point, I intend to stay in the military to become a trauma specialist. I want to be challenged and enjoy being where the action is, possibly on the front lines of battle. I'm afraid that simply working in a hospital world be boring", she added.