High school softball: Sophomore Katie Mitchell provides spark atop Huntley’s lineup

Mitchell leads Raiders in batting average, hits, runs scored and steals

Huntley's Katie Mitchell (12) looks to home plate after stealing second base in the fifth inning of the game at Harry D. Jacobs High School, Algonquin, Ill., on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. The Red Raiders won, 11-0 through 6 innings, and will host Harlem Thursday, June 10, in the Sectional Championship.

Huntley’s Katie Mitchell sat anxiously in the bleachers in June 2019 as she watched her older sister, Kendra, a senior on the Red Raiders’ softball team, play for a state championship.

“Seeing her so excited and the whole team being so excited was amazing,” Mitchell said. “Sitting there in the crowd, not being able to play when I’ve been playing my whole life was so cool, and thinking that I can be there in two years ... seeing them so excited just made me want to do it even more.”

Katie Mitchell gets her own chance at bringing home some hardware. Huntley (34-6) plays Marist (36-1) at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in a Class 4A state semifinal. The winner will meet either Lincoln-Way Central or Minooka in the championship game at 5 p.m. The losers will meet for third place at 4 p.m.

Mitchell, a sophomore, became the leadoff hitter for the Red Raiders after 10 of her teammates were forced into quarantine 10 games into the season because of COVID-19, bumping her up from sixth in the lineup to the No. 1 spot.

“She really came into her own when the other girls got quarantined,” Huntley coach Mark Petryniec said. “We had Abby [Simandl], Alex [Kiriakopoulos], Bri [Bower] and Katie. Those four girls really had to step up. For Katie, as a sophomore, it was a big deal for her to contribute and lead by example on the field. It was literally right in the middle of our season.”

Mitchell leads Huntley in batting average (.496), runs scored (46), hits (65) and stolen bases (39). She smacked her first homer of the season last week, an inside-the-park shot in the Raiders’ sectional final win over Harlem, and has 29 RBIs.

The Red Raiders were missing 10 players for seven games each because of the quarantine, but still managed to go 7-0 during that stretch.

“That took a huge toll on our team, having most of them quarantined,” Mitchell said. “I was very glad that I didn’t have to. Especially having Bri still, we knew we could still hold up the competition and still keep going. Our JV program, our whole program, is amazing, so having them come up, we obviously knew we could still do it.

“I’m a pretty competitive person myself, so knowing that I could do it, my confidence just had to be super high. I was just excited to have the opportunity.”

Petryniec and the coaching staff had to make adjustments to the lineup during and after the quarantine, including moving Mitchell to leadoff.

“During that time, we moved her up, and it just clicked and worked,” Petryniec said.

Mitchell reflected on the moment she was brought up and highlighted the benefits of the switch.

“When I had to step up, it felt great to be [at leadoff],” Mitchell said. “Kind of starting the rallies, I need to be there to get on so I can help my teammates be more confident, which is a huge part of it, and I was so glad to be there.”

Petryniec felt Mitchell was a prime candidate to move into the leadoff spot because of her versatility at the plate.

“She gives us a lot of options up there. She is definitely a slash hitter,” Petryniec said. “We can bunt, we can hit through, or she can even swing away lefty, so she is prototypical of what you want for a five-tool slash hitter. She’s fast, too.”

Kendra Mitchell was the leadoff hitter for Huntley, as well. Kendra hit first in both the Class 4A state semifinal and championship game in 2019. She has been at most of Huntley’s postseason games this year, sitting right behind home plate and cheering on her sister and the Raiders.

Petryniec commented on both of the sisters’ hitting techniques.

“Both slash hitters, but different styles,” Petryniec said. “Kendra was more of a placement hitter, but they definitely both show maturity beyond their years. Kendra was a big leader on that team, and I think her sister got to see that and is following suit there.”

Katie Mitchell and the Red Raiders are shooting for their second state title in as many seasons. Mitchell hopes to bring home the title Thursday, just as her sister did in 2019.

“Filling in her footsteps,” Mitchell said. “She went to state and was state champ, and now I have a chance at it, too. I’m so excited.”