‘What a magical ride’: Mitchell reflects on summer as Mavs’ head coach

By JAMES TUBB on August 23, 2023.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

Kevin Mitchell loved every second of his summer in Medicine Hat.

The Medicine Hat Mavericks head coach spoke with the News on Tuesday, four days removed from their Game 3 loss in the WCBL finals against the Okotoks Dawgs. Looking back on his summer with the Mavs, Mitchell says both professionally and personally, it was an incredible experience.

“All the different people I met and relationships I formed, the players I coached who I hopefully had an impact on their lives, whether that be in baseball or otherwise, it was an awesome summer,” Mitchell said. “I loved every second of it, it went by faster than I would have liked, but I think that’s a sign of how engaged we all are. When you’re really locked in, days go by and before you know it, you’re at the end of the year. I’m very grateful to Greg (Morrison) and the entire Mavs organization for the trust he had in me and the support throughout. It was an up and down summer for sure, with more highs than lows without a doubt.”

Mitchell entered the summer as the Mavs’ pitching coach in an assistant role to head coach Mark Goodman. When Goodman left the team for a professional opportunity in late June, Mitchell stepped into the role. The Mavs’ closed out their season on a 14-4 streak to finish the season 30-26. They swept the Regina Red Sox in two games, then upset the Moose Jaw Miller Express for the East Division title before ultimately falling in the league finals.

Mitchell says he’s proud of the work he was able to do as head coach and credited Goodman and the Mavs for making their success possible.

“In the month or so Mark was skipper of the Mavs, I learned a ton, and without that month of experience as his assistant, the rest of the year would not have gone as well as it did,” Mitchell said. “I’m really grateful for him and for my tenure as head coach, it was a whirlwind. When I started out, we won a few games to get us over .500 and then we hit our worst stretch of the year shortly after that and found ourselves at 16-22. The wheels could fall off at any minute but credit to the team, myself, Greg and Chad Martin for keeping it together there, because baseball is such a tough game and you’re going to have stretches throughout any season that don’t go your way … we came through that adversity a much better, more mature, stronger team and that allowed us to have the success we had down the stretch and into the playoffs.”

Mitchell says there were too many moments to pinpoint a favourite from the season. He enjoyed getting to throw to Nathan Tarver in the home run derby at the all-star game and the hot stretch to end the season. What stood out to him the most was the bus trips across Western Canada and early work before games and playing hacky sack ahead of games, moments when he says he truly got to know his players for who they were.

He leaves the summer season behind most proud of how the Mavs handled adversity, not bowing their heads but answering back and fighting through. Mitchell says that said a lot to him about the character of his players. He also has learned the lesson of trusting his gut as a coach.

“There were times when I questioned myself or a decision I made and perhaps made one that I wasn’t 100 per cent sold on, and more often than not when I went against my gut it didn’t work out,” Mitchell said. “That’s a really good thing to know about myself and it’s something on a deeper level, I do trust my sense as a baseball coach and as an evaluator of talent and game situations.”

When Mitchell stepped up into the head coaching role, Mavs’ owner and general manager Greg Morrison took over the assistant coach position alongside Chad Martin. Getting to work alongside his boss provided an interesting dynamic at first, Mitchell says, but turned out to be a strong partnership.

“We navigated it really well and by the end of the season, we had a pretty good system going of who was handling what part of the game and trusting one another, really,” Mitchell said. “It comes down to communication, if there’s strong communication that takes away the chance for ambiguities and resentments to build and I didn’t feel any of (the negatives).”

Mitchell returned to Summit County, Colo. on Friday and is gearing up for the fall baseball season. He’s also getting ready for a special day in his life, as Mitchell and his fiancée Katie O’Donnell are set to be married on Sept. 21 and will enjoy a honeymoon in Italy.

Looking into the future and the summer of 2024, Mitchell says he would love to return to Medicine Hat and coach the Mavs if given the opportunity. Until then, Mitchell says he will remember what was a special summer in the Gas City and will always be cheering, ‘Go Mavs.’

“There aren’t words to describe all that I experienced and was able to take from this summer, it was a magical ride, it really was,” Mitchell said. “It’s something I’ll have with me for the rest of my life. The lessons learned and the experience gained, it’s invaluable.”

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