EFFINGHAM — Mya Harvey looked at her sophomore season with the Effingham softball team as one with a lot of question marks.
The starting catcher for the Flaming Hearts, Harvey finished the 2022 campaign with a .230 batting average, a .287 on-base percentage, a .322 slugging percentage and a .609 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. She played in 27 games and had 94 plate appearances.
Overall, she realized she needed to change something. And ultimately, she did just that.
Harvey finished the year batting .430 with a .467 on-base percentage, a .780 slugging percentage and a 1.247 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. She played in 32 games, had 108 plate appearances and earned herself a spot on the Apollo Conference All-Conference Second Team and the Effingham Daily News Softball Most Improved Player of the Year.
“After her freshman year, she struggled at the plate and was embarrassed at her plate appearances,” said Kristin Harvey, Mya’s mother and summer softball coach. “So, she said she had to change something. In October, she started working two days a week and then in December, she started working three and then we went to open gym and worked four and the hard work paid off.”
Kristin added to that by calling her daughter a “powerhouse.”
That label was showcased at the plate, as Harvey turned herself into a fearsome hitter, finishing the campaign with eight home runs and 23 RBIs to go along with the much-improved batting average, slugging percentage, OBP and OPS.
Kristin still thinks there is a lot left to be unlocked, though.
“She’s learning that her hips will make it all go and she’s still not using them to her best ability,” Kristin said. “Once she starts doing that, she will get even better.”
The offense is just one thing, though.
Harvey improved elsewhere, too.
To go along with her bat, Harvey also did an excellent job behind the plate with her pitching staff.
Typically, Harvey is used to working with her soon-to-be junior teammate Saige Althoff. Althoff, however, injured herself before the season started, forcing head coach Jerry Trigg to ride the arm of freshman Natalie Armstrong.
The twosome ended up working well together in the end, though.
Armstrong finished the year pitching to a 2.81 ERA and a 17-10 record, with the constant voice of Harvey catching her playing a role in that.
Trigg said that because of how Harvey handles a pitching staff, her role would likely be altered come the start of her junior season next spring.
“This summer, we’re allowing her to call more pitches,” Trigg said. “In certain situations, we’ll still have our input, but the catcher has the best look at the hitters to see where they’re standing and their tendencies, so we trust Mya to be observant and know what not to throw.”
Harvey was asked about that, along with a series of other questions, by EDN Sports Editor Alex Wallner.
Below is how she answered those.
AW: Talk to me about your improvement as a player.
MH: “Continuously working hard and practicing hitting and catching every day. It pays off in the end.”
AW: Do you have a certain routine before, during and after games?
MH: “Before games, I warm up like normal and warm the pitchers. We have a team-huddle talk and then, after the game, it’s the same thing.”
AW: Are you very superstitious?
MH: “My mom is; I’m not.”
AW: Talk about your approach at the plate and what you’re looking forward to with each plate appearance.
MH: “Just make contact with the ball because if you try to hit it out, you won’t hit it out. So, if you go up there, relax and swing, you’ll likely make contact.”
AW: Talk about playing in the summer.
MH: “Playing in the summer, we play with a lot of girls from the high school team, so it’s a lot better to bond with them and my mom helps me because she’s not my mom [on the field]; she’s more of my coach and it’s a lot easier to have somebody you know coach you than just someone random.”
AW: You got second-team all-conference this past year. What’s your goal for your junior year?
MH: “To get first-team all-conference and to improve as a hitter and a catcher.”
AW: Talk about working with Saige [Althoff] and Natalie [Armstrong].
MH: “They pitch completely different, so adjusting to Natalie when Saige got hurt was hard because I haven’t caught Natalie that much. So, you just got to adjust to what the pitcher likes.”
AW: Talk about choosing softball as your main sport.
MH: “I’ve played softball ever since I was three. I’ve done tee ball and continued to play because I love the sport. Basketball is a little too much running for me.”
AW: What do you love the most about playing for Effingham and being in a Flaming Hearts jersey?
MH: “The chemistry with the team. It’s amazing and I love the coaches. Overall, it’s just a good team with good bonding experience.”
AW: Talk about the Champaign (Central) game when you hit three home runs.
MH: “I honestly did not think that was going to happen. But I went up there and hit the first one. Then, I didn’t try to hit another one; that just came. It was a good feeling.”