BORN TO PLAY

Rose Bud junior wants to hit 30 home runs

As crazy as it might sound, Rose Bud junior Joley Mitchell wants to hit 30 home runs this season. “It is a little high,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t even hit that many as a freshman and sophomore combined. “We have been really practicing and practicing, and if I just do what I’ve been taught, it can be done.” Mitchell, who bats lead-off for the Lady Ramblers, is this year’s Three Rivers Edition Softball Player to Watch. She batted .578 last year with 65 runs scored and 33 RBIs. She also had 13 home runs, 14 stolen bases and 27 walks. “Her power game has gotten a lot stronger than what it was,” head coach Scotty Starkey said. “She is a tough player to pitch to. “But it is very doable, if she gets pitched to. Sometimes they are going to pitch around you and make other batters do the damage. But she is very capable of doing that.” Mitchell, who was named all-state both her freshman and sophomore years, led the Lady Ramblers to the school’s first ever state championship with a win over Bald Knob. “It meant a lot,” Mitchell said. “I’ve played with my teammates since I was 5, and I have played with the Bald Knob girls since I was 5 as well. “It meant a lot because I know our team works so hard. We truly deserved it.” Mitchell said Rose Bud has almost the entire team coming back this year, with the addition of two freshmen and a transfer from Heber Springs High School. “I think they will make a difference,” she said. “I am really excited about that. “From the way we practiced last year to how we are practicing this year, it is about the same. I’m hoping for the same results — to be state champions.” Defending the title won’t be easy, Mitchell said. She knows schools such as Bald Knob and Benton Harmony Grove will be gunning for them this year. “We are the team to beat,” she said. “I think we are going to handle it just fine, knowing that we are the team to beat, and everybody is out for us. “I know Bald Knob is going to be out for revenge. I think we will be ready for that.” Rose Bud beat Harmony Grove in the semifinals the past two years, so Mitchell said they are a big factor to consider as well. “They are going to be tough to beat this year,” she said. Mitchell plays third base and catches for Rose Bud. “She is a leader; she is our spark plug,” Starkey said. “The girls tend to go off her. That’s why she is so good behind the plate. She knows what to do and say. “She is a natural leader.” Starkey said Mitchell is a special player and can play just about anywhere on the infield. “She is just one of those where the sky is the limit,” Starkey said. “I feel like she is never satisfied where she is at. “She is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen.” Mitchell has already verbally committed to play softball at the University of Missouri in Columbia. “Probably just because of the people and the campus,” Mitchell said.

“The campus is beautiful and just reminds me a lot of Arkansas. “I’ve gotten to go up there three or four times.” Mitchell began playing softball when she was 5 years old. She was watching her friends play and listening to them tell stories of playing and how much they were enjoying it, so she wanted to play as well. “My friends were playing and having softball games and stuff,” Mitchell said. “I knew a bunch of people who were. Maybe I wanted to do that and spend time with my friends. “That’s what led me to softball.” Mitchell said after her first day of practice, her mom told her dad, “You’ve got to do something.” “[My dad] said he knew from when I first started running; he knew I was going to be an athlete,” Mitchell said. She said it was her dad’s idea for her to try to hit 30 home runs this season. “We always sit down and have talks,” she said. “And he said, ‘When you are at practice, you can hit the whole bucket over the fence, so if you are in a game, she has to throw it over the plate. Why can’t you do it in a game?’” Mitchell said her dad, Skip, wants her to be successful at it and hit with a lot of power. “I’ve been working out a lot and really trying to hit as many homers as possible,” she said. “I slap a lot since I’m lead-off, but this year, I’m taking that to a minimum, and I’m really trying to hit with more power.” She said her dad put up a building on some land they own, and they have been out there training daily. “It is nice knowing I have somewhere to go when it is 5 degrees and snowing outside,” Mitchell said. “This is my 13th year to play softball, and it gets better and better every year. “I get more and more anxious before the season starts.” Between travel ball and high school ball, Mitchell said, she plays softball from the beginning of March till the end of November, but she is not burnt out on it. “I love it,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I wish I could play all 12 months of the year.”