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MITCHELL — Mitchell High School did not have to look far to find a head softball coach for its inaugural season of sanctioned softball in 2023.
The Kernels will be led in Year 1 by Kent VanOverschelde, Mitchell Activities Director Cory Aadland announced on Thursday.
VanOverschelde, who coaches the MHS football program, previously coached high school softball in Minnesota and was an assistant coach for Dakota Wesleyan's softball program for two seasons.
“I am excited to announce the hiring of Kent VanOverschelde as the first head softball coach of the Mitchell Kernels. Coach VanOverschelde is the ideal person to begin our softball program," Aadland said in a statement. "He has an extensive background in coaching softball and has a proven track record of running quality athletic programs. He will develop softball players, but more importantly, he will develop our student-athletes to be great people that will be great representatives of our school and the Mitchell community. I am looking forward to starting this new chapter in Mitchell athletics and cannot think of a better person to do that than Coach VanOverschelde.”
Mitchell will be among a total of 16 Class AA programs that will play high school softball in the spring of 2023, as the sport migrates from club status in the fall.
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In all, more than 40 programs are expected to play across three classes as girls softball will be sanctioned in South Dakota and be played from April to June.
