By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Sometimes the pressure and demands can be too much to any student/athlete. When you’ve been groomed by some of the best to be the next David Owen or Connor Alexander, the weight hangs on your stellar right arm. Add to those expectations, your older brother Brandon Mitson signed to play college baseball coming out of the Tipton-Rosemark Academy program. You are Corey Mitson. You have taken on the task of putting on the same uniform as those TRA standouts and play for the same Head Coach Brad Smith. Although the pressure was overwhelming at times, the younger Mitson kept a promise to his teammates and had innocent moments involving the game that kept him motivated. The combination of his love for the game of baseball and talent earned Mitson his National Signing Day moment with Southern Illinois University. “This has been a long time coming,” Corey said. “Thanks to my Dad for pushing me more and more everyday. Sometimes I didn’t want to and it gets a little annoying but he made he stick with it. And I”m very happy he made me do that. “There were sometimes I was questioning if this was the sport for me,” he added. “It was kind of like I was getting tired of it. But my Dad made me stick with it. I’m happy I did.” Byron and wife Marisa where right by their son’s side as he participated in a signing ceremony hosted by TRA and Rebel Baseball. Special guests also on hand were Mitson’s youth coaches Aaron Fultz and David Delugach. “We were very fortunate to have three people that cared about Corey and know the game of baseball very well,” Byron said. “David put him in front of the right people. Aaron taught him how to pitch and Brad molded him into the player and person that he is today. All three of these men had a very important part of Corey’s success and development.” Smith had the privilege of addressing the gathering on hand to witness Corey’s moment. Like the honesty Corey expressed on the day, Smith said there were highs and lows coaching the gifted pitcher. “I knew when he came in he had a tremendous amount of potential,” he said. “He’s ver hard on himself. A very intense player being a pitcher. Sometimes he was too intense and wore his emotions on his shelve. Throughout the years I’ve really tried to help him center his emotions and keep his emotions in check out there on the mound whether good or bad. “That’s what a good pitcher is suppose to do,” Smith continued. “To watch him mature since the eighth grade in our program, he’s really matured and developed into a very high-solid caliber high school pitcher. I feel he’s going to have great success at the next level as he continues to progress. He’s fun to watch. Like I said back there, he hasn’t been an easy guy to coach. But he has been a very pleasurable guy to coach.” The pleasures came in moments like Smith’s 5-year-old son Brody watching his favorite baseball player — Corey Mitson. “That goes a long way because that’s what I’m trying to get these young men to understand,” Smith said. “I think that’s my job to lead them from the baseball for life off the field. I just happen to do it through baseball. With their job is to be good influences toward the next generation of kids. Take out the fact if that kid does or does not play baseball. But if they are high character people, and these kids can see that and how they carry themselves. “I want them to be good role models for kids my son’s age — 4 or 5 years old,” he continued. “That means a lot to me. It hits me. My son is at the age that his very influenced. If I can have my kids help me parent my own kids by the way they act and he looks up to them, then my hats off to them.” Corey said he did what came natural and wanted to express some gratitude to those who came out to support the Rebels. “It’s all about the fans too,” he said. “We really don’t have a big following with our crowd. Brody is always at our games, he’s always there. The kid always has a smile on his face. So I don’t want to be the person when we’re losing to give him a grim look or just mean look so he will get discouraged and not want to play baseball. “So I give him my best look,” Corey continued. “And I will tell him, ‘Hey this is for you little Buddy.’ You go up there, strike out or a good hit, he’s always happy that I acknowledged him. That always makes my day better and make me play better.” Playing his best has allowed Corey to set records and add his name to the list of some of the best in TRA Baseball history. “He’s done well. Though his high school career to this point,” Smith said. “He has surpassed what those two did with a season left, entering their senior years. His numbers have been good or better in most categories. “I’ve said it since he was a freshman, he has a chance to rewrite the record books at TRA as far as pitching goes,” he added. “He’s on the verge of being top or top 2 in very category with Owen or Alexander or both. I have labeled him in the Owen/Alexander conversation since he’s been here. And he has stepped up to the challenge, met it and has run with it.” Corey entered varsity baseball knowing what to expect but with expectations to join the ranks of Rebel pitching greats David Owen and Connor Alexander as standouts who reached Division I Baseball at Arkansas State and Memphis respectively. Mitson’s dedication to game and be one of TRA’s best helped him reach his dream of playing D-I Baseball for the Salukis. SIU plays in the Missouri Valley Conference under Head Coach Ken Henderson. Hours of work on the mound and in the cage validated Corey’s promise to himself and teammates. “I can’t give you a number — it’s a lot hours,” he recalled. “I was going to Aaron like every other Wednesday. It was every Wednesday and Friday for a while. Then I would go to David in the week for practice. Then I would have Smith teaching me on top of that.
“More the fact I realized I was good at it,” Corey concluded. “I had a lot of friends, close friends like Alex who I grew up with, Tyler and Cameron who I’m playing with now. I couldn’t just leave them like that. They mean the world to me. My baseball team is my family. We’ve strived to be a family, one big unit.”
