Highland’s Miener improves in second half of challenging softball season at Austin Peay
To say the 2023 softball season was one of change and challenge would be an understatement for Sam Miener.
Miener, a 2021 Highland High School alum, battled through an up and down sophomore campaign pitching in the circle for Austin Peay State University.
Miener went 5-9 overall with a 5.47 ERA while pitching 80.2 innings as the club’s No. 2 pitcher this spring.
“I didn’t think that I started off as strong as I really wanted to (pitching) and I wasn’t as consistent. But I’m pretty happy with how I finished (out) the year by comparison to how I started it,” Miener said. “I really learned a lot (more) about how I need to pitch mentally and about the mental (approach) in games and in practice.”
The biggest change Miener had to make in her pitching approach as a sophomore came from the Governors move up in conference affiliation. APSU switched from the smaller Ohio Valley Conference to the bigger and more talented Atlantic Sun Conference for softball.
That switch alone gave her a whole new set of challenges to tackle within the circle.
“So, we went up a conference (in play) as we went from the OVC to the ASUN and that alone is like moving up to a bigger conference ... we’re going to be facing better teams, better hitters and just all-around better competition,” Miener said. “So, just keeping that in mind, I knew I was going to have to get better because we were going to be going against better teams. It was a step up from the OVC.”
After struggling early in the season, Miener helped the Governors to wins over Akron (March 4), Evansville (March 5), Belmont (March 12) and Green Bay (March 13).
Miener gave up just one run and didn’t walk a batter in the Governors’ 8-1 win over Evansville. She also pitched three scoreless innings of relief against Belmont while allowing only one hit.
“I feel like our team was kind of in sync for what we were doing whether we were having a bad game or not ... it wasn’t just one person, so it wasn’t just me out there. Obviously wins help, but I think it was kind of all us all together (getting in a groove),” Miener said.
End of the season recap
Austin Peay went 2-3 its final five games which included a frustrating 10-1 loss to No. 24 ranked Central Arkansas the third day of the ASUN Tournament on May 11 in Deland, Florida.
The finish to the tournament and season did not sit well with Miener.
“I think like the last game wasn’t us playing Austin Peay softball,” Miener said. “That’s definitely not how we wanted to finish the season and we knew playing Central Arkansas would be a really tough game because they were ranked really high. We were ahead the first two inning and then in the third inning I think we let the game get bigger than it was.”
Summer plans
Over the summer, Miener has been living in Clarksville, Tennessee, and working out at Austin Peay in preparation for the fall exhibition season and her junior year.
“I’m living down at Austin Peay this summer and I work down here, so I still train at the facilities. And I can go to the field and practice, so everything I’m doing is here, but if I go home for a little bit I work out at Phoenix (Physical Therapy) in Highland and I just pitch with my dad,” Miener said.
Miener does most of her workouts with teammates and junior-to-be catcher Skylar Sheridan and other Governors players.
Look ahead to next season
Next season as a junior will be a big one for Miener and she believes she needs one big improvement to help her raise her game as a pitcher in the ASUN next spring.
“What I’m really working on this summer is making sure my changeup is like 100% (effective) all the time because I was kind of struggling with it being 30% or 40% all the time and I need it to be like 80%, 90%, 100% (effective) so it can be my go to pitch,” Miener said.