North Duplin's Koch signs to play softball at University of Mount Olive

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 18, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

CALYPSO -- Like any young player who loved to spend her time on the softball diamond during summer camps, Mikayla Koch hardly thought about pursuing the sport in college.

Not even University of Mount Olive, which always played host to the instructional clinics and was just 10 minutes from her front door.

But Koch's attitude changed during a campus tour.

"This is where I belong," she thought.

The North Duplin senior made it her second home Tuesday afternoon. A utility player who helped lead the Rebels to state 1-A title this past June, Koch signed a national letter-of-intent to play for the Trojans next season.

"The coaches, I like them (and) they're really focused on the team, put the girls first," said Koch, who has played travel ball with two well-respected and well-known Hurricane programs since she was eight years old.

"The teachers are going to know who you are. You're not just a number on campus. I didn't want to be in too big of a place."

Koch started off as a pitcher in high school and abandoned that position after her sophomore season. She moved behind the plate to catch for then-freshman Rylee Pate, a hard-throwing right-hander who aggressively attacks batters.

"I love catching Rylee," grinned Koch. "Once you start catching a good pitcher, you just really like it."

The move suited an already-confident Koch. She batted .333 last spring, collected 26 hits, scored 26 runs and supplied nine RBI.

North Duplin finished runner-up in Carolina 1-A Conference play and entered the postseason as the No. 11 seed. Koch and her teammates knocked off five consecutive higher-seeded teams -- including western champ Hiwasee Dam in the best-of-three state championship series.

The Rebels posted 13 shutouts -- a single-season record during the program's fast-pitch era.

Koch will join UMO, which has gained respect in the Southeast Region after advancing to the NCAA Division II tournament in 2013 and 2014 with previous head coach Jaime Kylis. The Trojans logged a 29-20 worksheet with new head coach Mandy Sansbury last spring.

"She's really good at what she does and I think she does a good job of putting the team together and letting them play sort of like a family," said Koch, who'd like to pursue a degree in psychology and eventually work with veterans to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"I'm being recruited as a utility player so I can be used anywhere in the lineup where she needs me ... just hope I can gel with them and produce wins. I'm pretty confident in what I do. I'm not going to shy away from competition, not back down, give it my best effort."

Until then, Koch wants to build her leadership skills.

And she wants -- along with her teammates -- to compete for another state crown.

"Us as a team, we're really close and we all feel as if we can't let our guard down," Koch said. "We can't go into a game thinking we're better than somebody. We always have to think we're on the same playing field as the other team. I think we have a good opportunity as long as we play as hard as we can."