BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School senior Ty Mitzel signed a letter-of-intent to play baseball at Daytona State College during a May 8 ceremony in the KHHS cafetorium.
Mitzel thanked Daytona State for giving him a chance, but said that more importantly, he thanked God.
“I’m beyond blessed with the opportunity to play at the next level,” Mitzel said.
KHHS Head Coach Chris Roach said Mitzel has a tenacity that makes him “a pain in the butt” at times, but added that’s why he’s getting the chance to pitch in college.
“He wasn’t going to accept, ‘No.’ He’s going to prove what he can do,” Roach said.
Mitzel is always ready to compete and give it all every time he’s on the field.
“I play like it’s my last time every time because you never know when it will be,” he said.
Mitzel led the team this past season with an ERA of 1.20, compiling a 4-2 record. He threw 40.2 innings, struck out 46 and walked just 15 — all totals that ranked second on the team.
The initial plan was to use Mitzel, who went 2-3 with 41 strikeouts and 11 walks as a junior, as a middle reliever this season, but he worked his way into becoming a starter and throwing two complete games, both of which were wins.
Roach said Mitzel realized his sophomore year that if he was going to be a successful pitcher, he was going to have to make up for his lack of velocity. As the KHHS coach put it, “He can’t blow it by you.”
What Mitzel had to do, Roach said, was be creative and “craft” pitches that worked for him and that he was able to control and put where he wanted them.
“Now, he sidearms four pitches, so you don’t know what’s coming,” Roach said.
Mitzel talked of the work he put in to develop his command of multiple pitches, saying, “It was just staying with it and never giving up and trying new things to make it work. It’s through trial and error.”
In fact, Mitzel said he began throwing a knuckleball this past season for no reason, “and it turned out to be one of my best pitches.”
Daytona State isn’t unfamiliar to Mitzel. His sister, Madi, received a scholarship to play softball there. Mitzel said it’s a good starting point for him after high school.
“They focus a lot on grades,” Mitzel said. “It’s going to hold me accountable. It’s a great first school. That’ll keep me on task.”
His goal is to be able to play at a four-year school after Daytona State. Mitzel said the University of Florida is his dream school, but added, “If I don’t go there, just any other one that gives me the chance.”
Until then, he’s focused on improving and adapting to the collegiate level.
“I need to work, obviously, on putting on size because I’m not the biggest guy, and I need to focus on throwing harder,” Mitzel said.
Everything else is just doing what he’s been doing.
“If I can keep controlling (my pitches) and throwing strikes, that’s what they need,” Mitzel said.
If Mitzel’s time at KHHS has proven anything, it’s that he’s willing to put in the effort. Roach said Mitzel was one of several players on the team who always wanted to do more than what they did during practices.
“That’s the thing about this group of guys,” Roach said. “When they drag you, as a coach, to the ballfield, things are really good. You don’t have to drag them to the field. These guys want to play baseball.”
With that in mind, Roach said of Mitzel, “I think he’ll do just fine.”
Mitzel can’t wait to step onto the field for the first time as a college player.
“Emotions are going to be high, and nerves will be high,” he said, “but I’ll just be ready to go.”
