‘It’s All Run Full Circle for Me’
May 13, 2022 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Justin Mitchell doesn't know how it's going to end. All he knows is that he doesn't want it to end. Not yet. The Kansas State senior catcher, after a winding path, is finally with head coach Pete Hughes, the man who originally recruited him long ago. However, time continues to dwindle, and Mitchell's first and only season playing for the Wildcats reaches a milestone this weekend.
Senior Day is Sunday. It will mark his last home game at Tointon Family Stadium.
"It's flown by," Mitchell says, sitting on a couch in Hughes' office, wearing a backward K-State ballcap, like catchers do, while a million thoughts race at him. "It just seems like yesterday I stepped foot here and we began practice in the fall. It's awesome to come to work here every day. I guess that's why time has sped up on me.
"Yeah, the end is near now."
This story between Hughes and Mitchell almost didn't happen. In fact, there was a very good chance that it wouldn't happen. The odds were slim. Very slim. But through the magic of the transfer portal, things turned out well. It's allowed Hughes and Mitchell, a native of Platte City, Missouri, to share this moment.
Hughes had been the head coach at Oklahoma. He had recruited Mitchell to the Sooners since his sophomore year. But everything suddenly changed when Hughes, whose team finished third in the Big 12 Conference, was inexplicably fired in Norman after the 2017 season.
"Glad I had a chance to coach him," Hughes says. "You recruit a kid, you establish a relationship, and you talk about and envision coaching him down the road. When I got fired at Oklahoma as the third-place coach in the Big 12, I didn't have that chance to coach Justin. With the transfer portal, it was great that we were the first place he called, and that I had a chance to coach him.
"We've taken advantage of that second chance."
Mitchell played four seasons at Oklahoma and had a career slash line of .261/.352/.348 in 116 games, including 87 starts, with the Sooners. A 2019 Second Team Academic All-Big 12 selection, Mitchell graduated spring 2021 with a degree in Planned Programming and Sports Administration. He'll now finishing his master's in Academic Advising at K-State.
"I decided to stay at Oklahoma all four years to get my undergraduate degree, but when the opportunity arose for me to get my master's at K-State — it's all run full circle for me," he says. "It's pretty sweet."
K-State, 25-22 overall and 6-12 in the Big 12, furthered its odds to compete in the Big 12 Tournament when it won last weekend's series against Kansas. But Baylor, 23-22 and 5-13, would love to steal a series against the Wildcats. The Bears are 1-8 away from home in league games this season.
Mitchell, a 23-year-old who was voted as team captain five months after arriving in Manhattan, plans to play a big part in the Wildcats' success. He's been a key part of their success on multiple levels.
"Being a team captain was a really good honor," he says. "We have a lot of younger guys, so I felt as an older guy I needed to come in and have that leadership role and take over. Especially being the catcher and being with the pitchers every day, I wanted to lead them and help lead this team to success."
He does so with a catcher's mentality.
"I'm a bulldog," he says.
And he has the respect of his teammates.
"He's one of those guys who really knows how to articulate the game to our younger players," says sophomore left fielder Dominic Johnson. "He's one of the guys who'll talk to me all the time. He gets his work done and does everything that he can do, and he does it the right way. Shirt is always tucked, belt always fastened, shoes always tied. He's just a really good guy."
Mitchell ranks second on the team in batting average (.310), tied for fourth in doubles (11), fifth in slugging percentage (.492) and has the second-fewest strikeouts (19) on the team. He is 39-of-126 batting with 13 multi-hit games, four home runs and 16 RBI while starting in 41 of 42 games.
"I love being around tough, competitive kids who want to win as much as I do," Hughes says. "He's a dream to coach. He's right up there with the hardest workers on the team. It's early work and late work. He's unselfish. He's tough. He's everything that we preach in this program. To have him come in one year and to re-emphasize what we've talked about here for three years helps me out as a coach."
Mitchell will celebrate Senior Day in front of his family and friends traveling from Missouri.
This chapter of his life is almost over. But his story at K-State could remain ongoing.
"I actually plan on being a graduate assistant here for the next two years," he says. "I talked about that with Coach Hughes. He said whether I play pro ball or not after this year, he'll always have a spot for me as a graduate assistant. I know I want to coach the rest of my life and be around the game of baseball."
It's been quite a journey.
"I wouldn't want to end my career," he says, "any other place."
Justin Mitchell doesn't know how it's going to end. All he knows is that he doesn't want it to end. Not yet. The Kansas State senior catcher, after a winding path, is finally with head coach Pete Hughes, the man who originally recruited him long ago. However, time continues to dwindle, and Mitchell's first and only season playing for the Wildcats reaches a milestone this weekend.
Senior Day is Sunday. It will mark his last home game at Tointon Family Stadium.
"It's flown by," Mitchell says, sitting on a couch in Hughes' office, wearing a backward K-State ballcap, like catchers do, while a million thoughts race at him. "It just seems like yesterday I stepped foot here and we began practice in the fall. It's awesome to come to work here every day. I guess that's why time has sped up on me.
"Yeah, the end is near now."
This story between Hughes and Mitchell almost didn't happen. In fact, there was a very good chance that it wouldn't happen. The odds were slim. Very slim. But through the magic of the transfer portal, things turned out well. It's allowed Hughes and Mitchell, a native of Platte City, Missouri, to share this moment.
Hughes had been the head coach at Oklahoma. He had recruited Mitchell to the Sooners since his sophomore year. But everything suddenly changed when Hughes, whose team finished third in the Big 12 Conference, was inexplicably fired in Norman after the 2017 season.
"Glad I had a chance to coach him," Hughes says. "You recruit a kid, you establish a relationship, and you talk about and envision coaching him down the road. When I got fired at Oklahoma as the third-place coach in the Big 12, I didn't have that chance to coach Justin. With the transfer portal, it was great that we were the first place he called, and that I had a chance to coach him.
"We've taken advantage of that second chance."
Mitchell played four seasons at Oklahoma and had a career slash line of .261/.352/.348 in 116 games, including 87 starts, with the Sooners. A 2019 Second Team Academic All-Big 12 selection, Mitchell graduated spring 2021 with a degree in Planned Programming and Sports Administration. He'll now finishing his master's in Academic Advising at K-State.
"I decided to stay at Oklahoma all four years to get my undergraduate degree, but when the opportunity arose for me to get my master's at K-State — it's all run full circle for me," he says. "It's pretty sweet."
K-State, 25-22 overall and 6-12 in the Big 12, furthered its odds to compete in the Big 12 Tournament when it won last weekend's series against Kansas. But Baylor, 23-22 and 5-13, would love to steal a series against the Wildcats. The Bears are 1-8 away from home in league games this season.
Mitchell, a 23-year-old who was voted as team captain five months after arriving in Manhattan, plans to play a big part in the Wildcats' success. He's been a key part of their success on multiple levels.
"Being a team captain was a really good honor," he says. "We have a lot of younger guys, so I felt as an older guy I needed to come in and have that leadership role and take over. Especially being the catcher and being with the pitchers every day, I wanted to lead them and help lead this team to success."
He does so with a catcher's mentality.
"I'm a bulldog," he says.
And he has the respect of his teammates.
"He's one of those guys who really knows how to articulate the game to our younger players," says sophomore left fielder Dominic Johnson. "He's one of the guys who'll talk to me all the time. He gets his work done and does everything that he can do, and he does it the right way. Shirt is always tucked, belt always fastened, shoes always tied. He's just a really good guy."
Mitchell ranks second on the team in batting average (.310), tied for fourth in doubles (11), fifth in slugging percentage (.492) and has the second-fewest strikeouts (19) on the team. He is 39-of-126 batting with 13 multi-hit games, four home runs and 16 RBI while starting in 41 of 42 games.
"I love being around tough, competitive kids who want to win as much as I do," Hughes says. "He's a dream to coach. He's right up there with the hardest workers on the team. It's early work and late work. He's unselfish. He's tough. He's everything that we preach in this program. To have him come in one year and to re-emphasize what we've talked about here for three years helps me out as a coach."
Mitchell will celebrate Senior Day in front of his family and friends traveling from Missouri.
This chapter of his life is almost over. But his story at K-State could remain ongoing.
"I actually plan on being a graduate assistant here for the next two years," he says. "I talked about that with Coach Hughes. He said whether I play pro ball or not after this year, he'll always have a spot for me as a graduate assistant. I know I want to coach the rest of my life and be around the game of baseball."
It's been quite a journey.
"I wouldn't want to end my career," he says, "any other place."
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