COASTERS: Do you know Gina?

Steve Virgen

Look into the eyes of Gina Mitchell and witness the essence of

spontaneity. Mitchell, a remarkable 24-year-old mother who plays first

base for the Orange Coast College softball team, emulates Carpe Diem.

Her past breeds inspiration for those who dare to dream. She served

three years in the army. At Huntington Beach High, she played frosh-soph

football her freshman and sophomore years, earning respect from the best

varsity players, even future NFL All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez, who

shared a Spanish class with Mitchell.

Her most outrageous escapade, she comically admits, is marriage, which

she is now in the middle of a divorce after tying the knot at age 21.

But, knowing Mitchell, she won’t show fear in trying again.

Imagine contemplating bungee jumping as she describes herself.

“I would say I’m willing to take a chance at anything at least once,”

Mitchell said. “If someone is going put something crazy on your plate,

you have to try it. And, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. But,

you can’t say you never did it because you did do it.”

Mitchell’s free spirit has been a strong influence for the Pirates who

are a tight group because of their 10-player roster. Mitchell is

affectionately known as “Mom” and she is actually a single mother raising

her three-year-old son, DeAndre.

Mitchell, a nutrition major who is set to earn an Associate of Science

degree as soon as she completes the 15 units she is enrolled in this

semester, gathers strength and wisdom from a wild past.

Her experience in the army only made her realize just how strong she

is.

“I remember my first night,” Mitchell said of basic training. “A lot

of the girls cried because everyone is yelling at you. I never cried. It

was just a mental game. I can take people screaming at me, it doesn’t

faze me. Basic training was a fun eight weeks.”

So just what brought Mitchell to OCC?

She is there because of Renee, her sister.

Renee Sanchez also played softball at Coast and was on the Pirates’

Orange Empire Conference championship team of 1994.

Gina also tried softball because she wanted to prove to herself that

she could play. She wanted to renew her everlasting competitive drive.

After Huntington Beach, she played at West Valley in Hemet where she

earned All-Skyline League honors as a shortstop.

She is getting back to form, improving and maintaining a .368 average

through the Pirates’ (3-2-1) first six games.

She has seven hits in 19 at bats, including six RBIs and three

doubles.

But, aside from her statistics, Mitchell is enjoying the unique

meshing of the Pirates.

“There’s no real big attitudes here,” Mitchell said of the OCC

softball team. “Almost everyone is versatile and if they’re asked to play

a different position, normally they’ll go without crying about it. And

that’s a big issue. I don’t like babies. I like the girls here a lot. It

makes it easier to play.”

As she prepares to move on to a four-year university, Mitchell is

crowded by life-changing decisions. Her divorce is coming and soon

DeAndre will be asking those hard-to-answer questions.

She is hoping to play softball when she moves on to San Diego, or

perhaps, North Carolina, where her boyfriend lives. Or, she may go back

into the army.

Whatever comes, she can smile, because she is never looking back. Gina

only turns the page and seeks a new chapter.