Much More Than The Numbers
February 07, 2022 | Softball, Joel Coleman
Mia Davidson’s impact goes far beyond her play on the softball field.
STARKVILLE – At this point, the honors have come so frequently, they're hard to keep up with. On Monday afternoon, Mississippi State's Mia Davidson was announced as a preseason All-Southeastern Conference player.
It was just another day with another accolade for the Bulldog superstar catcher. The awards pile up when you're a player of Davidson's caliber – one with as impressive of a resume as any athlete in not just MSU softball history, but Mississippi State athletics history, period.
Yet as Davidson prepares to start her final season as a player in Maroon and White on Friday, she's already cemented a Bulldog legacy that goes far deeper than the records and moments that've been on display in the public eye. Her greatness on the field is only superseded by the impact she's made on those around her and the program she proudly represents.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝘢𝘥𝘫.)
— Mississippi State Softball (@HailStateSB) February 7, 2022
1) acting or done in the same way over time.
2) unchanging in nature, standard, or effect over time.
3) Mia Davidson
For the fourth straight season, @MIASKY3332 is a member of the Preseason All-SEC Team#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/gIIYpDkuND
Let's go ahead and get the formalities out of the way, shall we? After all, no tale of Davidson would be complete if her great feats weren't recognized. They're important because they provide the backdrop for everything else.
Davidson enters play this weekend with 69 career home runs. That's only two shy of the Southeastern Conference record. When you go ahead and throw baseball in the mix as well, Davidson is one of only 10 people in SEC history, male or female, to have hit 65 or more career long balls.
Davidson is more than just the deep flies though. She currently sits first in SEC softball history in career slugging percentage. She's third all-time at MSU in RBI and total bases. She's fifth in school history in on-base percentage and runs scored. She's seventh in batting average. She's a complete offensive force.
Davidson is a three-time all-region selection and has also been an All-American. She's a former Top-10 finalist for the Collegiate Player of the Year award.
But again, there's so much more to Davidson than any of that.
Let's say it's a practice day for the Bulldogs and head coach Samantha Ricketts is hard at work with someone in one of the batting cages. Volunteer assistant D.J. Sanders is busy with another player in another cage.
There's a third player that needs help. It wouldn't be at all unusual for Ricketts to call on Davidson to lend a helping hand.
"I can really trust her," Ricketts said. "I can send her to the next cage to work with another hitter and know she's going to be on the same page with what we're doing."
When you've essentially been a Bulldog for a decade, well, you pretty much have the whole expectations thing figured out.
Davidson originally committed to State back in June of 2012 – between her seventh and eighth grade years at Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
"She's been a Bulldog longer than I have," Ricketts said.
Ricketts came to Mississippi State three years after Davidson's commitment – first as an assistant in 2015 before being promoted to head coach in 2019.
And Davidson, well, she started leading and making MSU a better place before she even arrived. Just ask Bulldog pitcher Aspen Wesley.
Wesley was early in her high school career when she figured out how special Davidson was as not just a player, but a teammate.
"I want to say her senior year [of high school] and my 10th grade year, I remember coming [to Mississippi State] for a camp and she was my catcher," Wesley remembered. "I knew she was coming here. I knew who she was. She was Mia Davidson! I was nervous, but she calmed me down a lot."
Fast-forward to the present and both are now key parts of the MSU team. But nothing has changed.
"She still does the same thing," Wesley said. "She's like, 'Aspen, just calm down. You've got this.' She's always talking to me. She's very supportive. She clicks with all the pitchers. Not just me, it's everyone. She makes sure we are comfortable."
It's not by accident. Making others comfortable is high up the list of Davidson's personal priorities.
"I think it's super important to try to build a relationship with everybody," Davidson said. "Each year it's a different team. People come and go. You get your freshmen, and the seniors leave. You just want to make sure you leave a good impact on everybody. This year, I'm really striving to make sure I make a good connection with everybody to help how I can and try to leave this program better than I found it and make sure everyone enjoys being here. Sometimes, being a college athlete can get hard. I just want to make sure everyone enjoys their time and make sure they're happy."
The ultimate team player – it's just who Davidson is says State outfielder Chloe Malau'ulu. Not to mention, incredibly smart and attentive.
"She's very selfless and always thinking about everyone else," Malau'ulu explains. "She'll come up to us in the middle of the game asking us, 'Hey, how are you doing? What's going through your head?' She's just wanting to know more about where our thoughts are or where our head is at. She's a very logical player. She likes to analyze things and look deeper into things. It's cool to see her sharing that side of herself with the team and getting us to think about all the different aspects that go into a single game or at-bat or play."
Who knows how many times these moments when Davidson has comforted a teammate or shared some tidbit of knowledge has led to Bulldog success? It's easy to account for the home runs and big hits. There is no column on the stat sheets for inspiration. But rest assured, if there were, Davidson would be among the all-time greats in that department as well.
"She brings the energy," Wesley said. "I remember coming in and I was so nervous and so scared of her because she just looks so intimidating and that is not who she is. She is a wonderful person, and I am so blessed to call her my friend. I can't wait to see what she does this year."
As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end and for Davidson, this year is indeed it for her playing career at MSU.
"I'm just trying to enjoy every moment," Davidson said. "Just sit back and appreciate everything that Mississippi State has given me and not taking anything for granted. That's all I'm focused on."
While Davidson relishes all MSU has brought her, the Bulldogs will simultaneously be soaking in Davidson's final games as a player at State. There'll almost assuredly be moments along the way where the question will be thought, 'What will we do without her?'
Sure, it's a part of college sports. Players can't stick around forever. But man, it'd sure be nice if players like Davidson could.
"I don't know if there are enough words to explain what Mia means to us," Ricketts said. "Mia is going to be so tough to replace, and not even just the production on the field. She's so much more than the numbers and the records and the awards that she's received. She really is at this point an extension of the coaching staff and of myself. She knows what the expectations are. She'll call the team in during the middle of practice. She'll stop a drill and call them in before I do. She knows what's coming at this point and she's able to take charge and be that leader on the field and get the team refocused before I have to step in and do it. That's something you're always hoping for as a coach. She's really stepped up with on-field leadership with her voice. She's always led by example with her work ethic. You want your best player to be one of the hardest workers out there. That's always been Mia."
What better way to be remembered? Incredible records. Reliable friendship. Amazing teammate. Unbeatable work ethic.
That's all nice, but Davidson herself takes pride in her larger impact. While all those other things went into it, Davidson loves how she helped push State softball further into the consciousness of many.
"I think it's just making sure people appreciate softball as a sport here at Mississippi State," Davidson said. "Yeah, we're [known for] baseball, football and basketball, but just being able to let people know that Mississippi State has a growing and successful [softball] program is really special. Ricketts, in the years she's been here so far as a head coach, she's really making this something of her own and making it special. Knowing we're on the map is something that's good for this program and I'm happy to be a part of it."
Davidson hasn't just been a part of it. She's been a cornerstone of it. Though her final chapter starts getting written on Friday, no matter how her story ends, she's already cemented her status as a Bulldog legend by any measure – the things that show up in the record book, as well as the things that don't.
