Sam Mitchell Commits To Crimson Tide; Bob Jones Pitcher Solid On The Mound
MADISON- Sam Mitchell is solid as a rock in his recent decision to verbally commit to Alabama as his choice of college upon his graduation from Bob Jones in 2023. The super talented baseball player said, “I’m not open to other schools. Bama is where I fit in the best.”
The current junior for the Patriots is as solid on the mound as any player in the state as he’s the No. 6 pitcher and 22nd overall ranked player in Alabama according to PBR Future Games. Even the PBR organization has utilized its description in a similar manner- “Solid feel for all three offerings (pitches) and should continue to see velocity climb with sizeable upside.”
The 6-foot-6, 215-pound right hander is throwing in the 90-miles per hour range with his two-seam fastball. He can follow that pitch with a change-up that can easily drop at the last second in front of the batter and a mean looking slider that looks to come over the plate before diving off and having hitters chase in many futile attempts. It’s those three pitches and his overall physical size that easily caught the attention of several colleges including UAB, Troy and UT-Martin, all of which have put offers in front of Mitchell.
An invitation was sent out for Mitchell to visit the Alabama campus last November. Besides attending a Crimson Tide football game and visiting much of the campus, Mitchell spoke in depth with Alabama’s coaches about him being offered a partial scholarship. The Tide’s coaching staff has seen Mitchell in action through tournaments while playing during the off season with the Viper Baseball Academy. Mitchell spoke in depth with Alabama assistant coach Jason Jackson and Mitchell said, “I left Tuscaloosa feeling good and had a feeling something may happen.”
Two weeks later Mitchell received a phone call that will have a good chance of changing his life forever. “Alabama called and offered me a scholarship and I told them I wanted to sleep on it,” said Mitchell, 16. “I talked it over with my parents and made my choice.”
The son of Bruce and Michelle Mitchell, the former recreational basketball player turned fulltime baseball fanatic spoke of how his father built a 2×4 pitcher’s mound in the backyard of their Madison home. “My dad would sit on a bucket and caught while I pitched.”
Playing youth baseball at Palmer Park he attended Discovery Middle School and was on the school’s baseball team, but all did not end well for Mitchell. In the eighth grade, he broke the growth plate in his right elbow, which required surgery. Upon his release from the surgeon he was in a cast for two months, went through 60 days of physical therapy and participated in a grueling 2-month pitching program designed to get his pitching arm back in tip-top shape for his high school years with Bob Jones.
Away from the school baseball program, the past several off-seasons the hard throwing Mitchell has played for the Viper Baseball Academy under pitching coach Ricky Diehl. For Bob Jones in 2021, Mitchell saw 53 innings on the mound in 12 games, threw 34 strikeouts with a 3.57 ERA.
Mitchell carries a 3.9 grade point average in the classroom and yearns to earn a degree in math or science, but baseball has always been his first love and much of that early attachment to the sport came at the hands of his older brother’s baseball card collection. Mitchell would soon to begin his own card collection by piggy-backing on his brother’s collection and purchasing cards of his own every chance he had. Like most young lads with the ambition to playing baseball, Mitchell would fantasize about seeing his face on his own baseball card that would make its way to other’s collections. “I saw a vision of me on my card. It was an action photo of me pitching midway through a delivery.”
“I thank God for giving me this gift to play the game, and thank my family, friends and coaches while I pursue my dreams,” said Mitchell.
As in the lyrics of the 1984 Ashford and Simpson hit song titled “Solid”- “Solid, solid as a rock and nothing’s changed it,” look for Mitchell to keep throwing strikes and one day open a package of baseball cards and see his own card populated among the biggest stars in professional baseball.
