Chenelle and Sasha Mitchell, sisters from Carlyle, have been playing ball all of their lives. They both began at the age of five when they were old enough to start T-ball. As they grew, they succeeded in becoming top athletes.
Playing with Carlyle Minor Ball under the coaching of their parents and moving on to play with a provincial travel team based out of Oxbow with girls from across the southeast they honed their skills. For five years they played with this team and became smart players.
When Chenelle was in her first year at the University of Regina (U of R), she attended school and tried out for the softball team and made it. She played for her first and second years, taking a break in her third year.
"I took my third year off to focus on classes," explained Chenelle.
Deciding to try out for the team once again in her fourth year, her younger sister Sasha decided to try out as well. Thus, Sasha tried out in her second year at the U of R. Both were able to make the team, which excited the sisters as they had played together for most of their lives and are very close.
"We had always played together before so we were used to each other on the field," Chenelle said.
The Cougars practiced three times a week and played every weekend in league tournaments beginning Labour Day Weekend. Playing in the Western Collegiate Softball Association they took on conference games with the Mitchell sisters doing very well in game play. Both were thankful for the amazing coaching they received.
"All the coaches knew the game really well. They put in a lot of time and effort for the team. They all have families, but were very dedicated and were really good coaches," Sasha explained.
Both girls are busy with softball and school, Chenelle taking business, majoring in accounting, while Sasha is also taking business but has not yet declared a major. Now with ball over they are focused on midterms.
"It went by so fast, the whole month of September is a blur," Sasha exclaimed.
Sasha walked away with a first season's league batting average of .406 with 14 hits and one triple. Chenelle made 13 hits, five triples, and one homerun with a batting average of .391.
Sasha played second base for the season, while Chenelle was a fielder typically playing right or centre field.
The team travelled to Calgary, Regina, and Saskatoon for regular league play. Lethbridge hosted playoffs where the Cougars placed fourth in the league, not doing as well as they had hoped but moving onto nationals which were hosted in Regina.
During the tournament play in Lethbridge Sasha was named a Second Team All-Star for playing her position, while Chenelle was named a First Team All-Star in right field. Both played extremely hard to earn these honours. At this time Sasha was also nominated for Rookie of the Year, though she did not receive the award it does show her innate ability and skill as a ball player to be nominated.
Throughout the season the Cougars also played exhibition games in Montana which proved to be good practice for the girls.
On Thanksgiving weekend the Cougars hosted nationals.
"It was cold that weekend, freezing, but we're used to playing in Saskatchewan weather," Sasha said.
There was tough game play with teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario attending. Though the Cougars ended up placing sixth they played well as Chenelle was named one of the 2012 Canadian Collegiate Softball Association Tournament All-Stars.
As for where the team will head next season: "There were a lot of first years; it's a very new team. They have a lot of potential for the future if they stay together," Chenelle explained.
As for Sasha's first experience playing collegiate ball she was extremely happy to have made the team.
"As it was my first year I found parts aside from playing ball that I enjoyed too. It was a great experience. I made a lot of new friends, everyone was just so much fun," Sasha said.
"There were no cliques, so that was really nice," Chenelle added.
"It let you meet new people, the team would hang out after too or you'd see them in the halls and they were another friendly face," continued Sasha.
Both the experience playing ball as well as the new people they became friends with made the season a great experience for the Mitchell sisters who were able to, once again, play together.
Chenelle will be going into her fifth year, having done a couple of work terms during her time at the U of R, and Sasha will be going into her third year. Both plan to again play with the Cougars next season and have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to play together this past season.
