Dr. Ken Ravizza, the late California State University Fullerton sport psychology professor and mental performance coach to the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, was highly influential to many baseball and softball coaches throughout the world.
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Dr. Ken Ravizza, the late California State University Fullerton sport psychology professor and mental performance coach to the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, was highly influential to many baseball and softball coaches throughout the world.
I had the pleasure of attending a few of Dr. Ravizza’s amazing presentations and also learning about the mental game of baseball from his book with co-author Tom Hanson titled, “Heads Up Baseball: Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time.”
Ravizza often explained that early in his career he was focused on peak performance or trying to help athletes get in the zone.
But what he learned through his more than 40 years of consulting, with many of whom were elite softball players and coaches, is that most of the time athletes did not have their “A” game. They most often had their “B” or “C” games.
Thus, Ravizza wanted athletes to learn to be “comfortable being uncomfortable” on the field of play. To do this, he taught athletes and coaches how the mental game could be improved by “controlling the controllables.”
As the 2025 softball season gets underway, Geauga County Softball fans will see a new sign on the front of the Berkshire Badgers dugout at Abundant Life Ministry Field.
The sign displays one of Dr. Ravizza’s well known mantras: “So What, Next Pitch.”
Placing the sign on the dugout was first-year Berkshire Head Softball Coach Joe Medlen, a long time successful softball coach at Perry who has come out of retirement to lead Badgers Softball.
Coach Medlen inherits a strong softball team from head coach Dave List who retired from coaching at the end of the 2024 softball season and was inducted into the Berkshire Athletic Hall of Fame in September of 2024.
In taking over the Badgers Softball program, Medlen brings a philosophy highly focused on teaching and emphasizing the importance of the mental game in achieving success.
Medlen wants his team to have an outcome goal of winning state championships. But he teaches his players to stay focused on the things that they have control of each day and each pitch, such as having quality at bats.
Taking this attitude and focus to the field against the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals on March 25, the Badgers scored 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 17-2 opening day victory.
Leading the Badgers over the Cardinals were junior outfielder Kate Miller and sophomore shortstop, Whitney Davis.
For the game, Miller was 2-3, with a double and 4 RBI. Also, Davis, one of the top softball players in the state of Ohio and who as a freshman broke the Badgers school record for hits (.679 average) and stolen bases, was 1-2, with 2 walks and and scored four runs against the Cardinals.
Miller said that the team was highly motivated going into the season opener as the Badgers value the importance of protecting their home field.
“We did great at the plate, we made all the plays in the field, and I think we did a really good job overall,” Miller said.
Coach Medlen emphasized that the team hit the ball well, had a lot of quality at bats, and were focused on things they could control.
“We really controlled the controllables in that game (against the Cardinals),” said Coach Medlen.
On March 28, in the second game of the season, the Badgers hosted a tough CVC opponent, the Independence BlueDevils whose pitcher was throwing over 60 miles per hour.
Although the Badgers lost 4-1 in extra innings, they stayed mentally tough and played one pitch at a time.
Against the BlueDevils, the Badgers showed their ability to handle adversity and focus on the next pitch. Although they were struggling at the plate, the Badgers did not let that effect their defense.
In fact, twice they threw runners out at the plate to keep the contest scoreless. Making great throws to the plate were outfielders Kate Miller and Julia Young. And making excellent plays at the plate by putting the tag on the runners was catcher Olivia Masink.
“We practiced some things, just last night about assists,” Coach Medlen said. “We worked on that and it came into play the next day.”
After getting the out at the plate in the top of the sixth, the BlueDevils put a run across the dish later in the inning to take a 1-0 lead.
But so what, next pitch.
The Badgers strong mentality to never give up and stay focused on one pitch at a time allowed Davis to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning with a line drive to left field. Davis then scored from third base, on heads up baserunning after a fly out and error, which tied the game at 1-1 and forced extra innings.
Clearly, the Badgers have demonstrated a strong next pitch mentality under the leadership of Coach Joe Medlen.
And with a “so what, next pitch” mentality, Badgers Softball will certainly be a tough out for anyone in the OHSAA playoffs.
