By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Like most athletes, Mia Kate Griffin suffered a setback.
Coming into her senior year, Griffin felt her shoulder would get better in time for her final high school softball season. Just days from the start of the 2026 campaign and the Munford 12th grader got the worst news a senior athlete can receive — ‘you are not cleared to play.’
The heartbreaking news motivated Griffin to reclaim the sport she grew up loving and with the help of her Head Coach Raygan Coughlan, Griffin secured a spot on the Jackson State Green Jays. On April 8 in the Munford Cafeteria, Griffin inked her letter of intent.
“I thought this day wasn’t going to come,” she acknowledged. “If you were to ask me at the beginning of the season if I was going to play college ball, I would say no.
“But God works in mysterious ways,” Griffin continued. “I was injured so I didn’t get to play this season. That made me realize that I am going to really miss softball when I stop playing.”
When Mia got the official news of her senior season being subtracted, her longtime support system starting with parents Jason and Trudy where there to keep her moving forward.
“I got injured at the beginning of September,” Mia noted. “My doctors couldn’t figure anything out. Then in the middle of February, they figured out I tore my labrum and I had to have surgery.
“I was so devastated because I thought they should have figured it out in September — it’s their job,” she added. “But I knew that God had a plan for me and I had to trust Him through it all. Even though I felt I had my season taken away from me, it all turned out the way it should have.”
Mia is the youngest of three children and Jason said he is relieved his baby has a happy landing spot with Jackson State.
“She’s our last one,” he said. “So it’s all coming to an end. Just proud to see how she’s grown and become her own person.”
Trudy said Mia’s signing day is her fulfilling her destiny.
“It’s very exciting seeing her reach this milestone,” she said. “I am very proud of her. It’s well deserved. She’s worked very hard for this.
“She made the All-Star Team for her rec league at 4 years old,” Trudy continued. “Not too many 4-year-olds do that. She started playing competitive ball when she was 6. She really didn’t let up on the brakes until she started playing high school ball. She quit playing travel ball. She’s been on the field all along.”
Trudy said Mia’s love of softball made her resourceful and an attraction to many college coaches.
“She’s such a great utility player,” she said. “Middle infield is where she shines. She’s been a catcher, third base. She’s never pitched or played first base. She’s been all over the field.”
Coughlan took full advantage of Griffin’s unlimited skill set for three years at Munford.
“Mia is just a resilient kid, great athlete and one of the best I’ve ever coached,” she said. “She came in as a freshman and started catching taking us to State. Then sophomore year I put her at third base. Then junior year put her at second base. Anywhere we needed her she was going to go.
“For her to be injured her senior season, she has never missed a practice unless she was out for surgery,” Coughlan added. “She shows up for her team and now they’re showing up for her. That tells you the kind of leader she is, even without being out there on the field.”
Coughlan, who is on maternity leave, got a request from her injured senior and made it her mission to help her reach her dream.
“Mia is just a resilient kid, no matter what,” she said. “She’s at her senior season and she came to us and was like, ‘I don’t want to be done with it.’ I was like, ‘Alright, let’s get to it.’
“She went on some visits. Jackson was her visit and I played ball with the woman who coaches at Jackson State,” Coughlan continued. “Mia asked her at the end of the interview, ‘What do I need to do? Do you need to see me play in order to play here?’ ‘You just got to tell me you want to play here. Coach Raygan told me you’re a great kid and I trust her.’”
Griffin expressed gratitude to Coughlan for putting in the extra effort for her. Mia will join the Lady Green Jays of Head Coach Beth Barcroft and play in the NJCAA’s Tennessee Community College Athletic Association.
“I will always be so thankful for Coach Raygan, the coaching staff and my teammates,” Mia said. “Whenever I was injured I was obviously upset. You could tell on my face that I wanted to be out there and I wanted to be doing stuff. They stood beside me through it all saying, ‘It’s going to be OK. There’s bigger plans for you.’”
The foundation of Jason and Trudy gave Mia the blueprint on how to be resilient and press forward.
“My mom and my dad have been my biggest support system,” she said. “From when I was tiny, I started playing softball when I was 3. I started competitive when I was 6. They have just been like ‘If you don’t want to play, you don’t have to play.’
“They did whatever was best for me,” Mia added. “If I wanted to go hit for two hours, we were going to go hit for two hours. Whatever I needed to better myself or do what’s right for me, they were supporting me through every step of it.”
Mia dedicated her improvable signing day to her late grandmother Charlotte.
“Grandma has been to every single game,” she recalled. “She was allergic to the sun, but she still sat out in the sun to watch me play. She was the perfect grandma. Whatever it took for her to be somewhere, she would be there — no matter what. I am so grateful for that and I miss her so much.”
With a renewed passion and a vow to ‘ball out,’ Mia won’t take this second chance for granted.
“It feels amazing to know that people see the hard work I put in and that hard work does pay off,” she concluded. “Everybody says hard work will pay off in the end and I started not to see it because I got discouraged through my injury. Seeing that this is the final outcome and this is what I wanted, they saw me work hard and it helps me to see the bigger picture.”
