OXFORD – Raegan Sanford knew she hadn’t raised a quitter. But given everything that’s transpired in her son’s life the last few years, she can’t help but appreciate his resilience regardless.
Mitchell Sanford, a senior outfielder at Ole Miss, believed his future would be on the football field rather than a baseball diamond. Most everyone in his hometown of Berwick, Louisiana, thought the same. The star quarterback led the Panthers to three straight Louisiana 3A playoff appearances. Sanford played basketball and baseball as well, but he admits football was his first love.
But a chance scouting opportunity by an LSU staff member at a state semifinal baseball game changed the trajectory of Sanford’s athletic career. What happened at LSU – a dream school for anyone growing up on the Bayou – altered his life, too. Sanford started 16 games over two years with the Tigers, and his road roommate was none other than Drew Bianco, son of Rebels head coach Mike Bianco. Sanford started having back troubles midway through his second season, and the pain – the product of stress fractures in his L4 and L5 vertebrae – caused him to leave the Tigers’ regional matchup at Oregon.
Following a coaching change and uncertainty surrounding his back, Sanford transferred to UT-Arlington, where he played in just four games before needing surgery that put him out of action for a year. But it takes far more than that to keep Mitchell Sanford down.
“He’s not a giver-upper,” Raegan said. “ … He has a goal and he knew that’s what he was aiming for. He would have had to really have been cut down to the ground for him to give up.”
A second transfer, this one to New Orleans, coincided with Mitchell’s regained health, becoming the Southland Hitter of the Year in 2024. A wrench was once again thrown in Sanford’s plans, as he was not selected in the 2024 MLB Draft. Mitchell and Drew, now the Rebels’ director of player development, had remained extremely close. When circumstance met opportunity, Mitchell couldn’t turn down the chance to come back to the SEC.
Mitchell has thrived with the resurgent Rebels (40-19), settling into the leadoff spot while hitting .303 with 15 home runs, 40 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Ole Miss, back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022, hosts Murray State in its opener of the Oxford Regional Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
“I think there was still something in myself that I wanted to prove to myself and just the people that have been on the journey with me,” Mitchell said. “ … I feel like I still have a little bit more to give to the game and to my college career. If professional baseball is in the cards for me, that’d be great. But I really just want to be a good college player, and landing here has been great for me.”
Small-town football star
Selfishly, there is a part of Berwick High School head football coach Mike Walker that wishes Mitchell had played quarterback at the next level. After all, he’s one of the town’s best football players in recent history, if not all-time. Berwick is located 86 or so miles southwest of New Orleans. Its population of less than 5,000 people gives it that “everyone knows everyone” kind of vibe.
“You have, what, three streetlights?” Mitchell’s father, Dan, said chuckling. From a young age, Raegan and Dan made sure Mitchell was well-rounded – he played every sport imaginable, was active in the Catholic Church and was an exemplary student. Raegan, a teacher, played volleyball, basketball and tennis at Berwick; Dan, a Seattle native and former competitive BMX rider, traveled to Berwick frequently as an underwater welder and met his eventual wife there. Mitchell started playing baseball when he was 6 or 7 and later played Pop Warner football. He starred at quarterback throughout his teenage years, attending the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, Louisiana, as well as an Elite Eleven camp. He held football and baseball offers from Nicholls State and was worked out by the Oklahoma State football staff.
What he didn’t do during that time was play travel baseball or attend the various camps at which prospects showcase their skills. Listed at 5-foot-11 and under 160 pounds then, Mitchell excelled as both a runner and passer for Berwick, a program that has endured uneven football results throughout its history.
“I think more so than being a good quarterback, his competitive nature, when the game was on the line or we needed a big play, we knew that he was going to come through for us,” Walker said. “And he did, time and time again.”
Football aside, Mitchell had his share of success on the diamond. Then-Berwick baseball coach Brandon Bravata always believed there was another level left in him to unlock.
As a junior, the Panthers made a playoff run and met up with Sterlington High School in the 3A semifinals. Sanford hit an impressive triple to the backside, helping Berwick advance to the state finals. Shortly after the game, Bravata received a phone call from an LSU staff member
who had been in attendance. He wanted to know more about Mitchell and was ecstatic upon learning he played football, as then-head coach Paul Mainieri had an affinity for football players.
Mitchell eventually received an offer from the Tigers, an opportunity that caught the Sanfords off guard given his previous baseball offers had come from smaller programs. Berwick ended up winning state – the program’s first in 40 years – and Mitchell was named MVP of the title game.
“The whole city was at the state championship,” Bravata said. “ … Really nothing like it, to be honest with you. And people helped us pay for our rings, and they got beautiful, beautiful rings. And man, (these) kids got to be superstars for a little while. That is the cool thing about being from a small town.”
The offer from LSU changed Mitchell’s outlook significantly. While he loved football, the opportunity to play at the state’s flagship school was hard to pass up. The offer from LSU was also a sort of validation – he was as good as people kept saying he was.
“The opportunity to play at LSU … was a huge decision,” Mitchell said. “Being a Louisiana kid … born and raised, everyone’s dream is to go play at LSU. So, I think that was a big reason why I decided to go play baseball, to have an opportunity.”
Following his commitment to LSU, Bravata noticed a change in his star. Not only was he carrying himself with a new air of confidence, but he was asking more questions about the more nuanced things baseball requires. It culminated in him hitting .427 as a senior with six home runs, seven triples and 12 doubles.
Mitchell led the Panthers back to the playoffs in football as well that fall. He knew quarterback wasn’t going to be in the cards for him much longer, but that didn’t really matter. One specific play that season still stands out in Walker’s mind.
“He dove for the pylon and, keep in mind he had already committed to LSU at this point. So he dives for the pylon to try to score a touchdown,” Walker said. “… And he gets absolutely leveled in the ribs. The training staff runs out there, I run out there to check on him. And the first thing he said was … ‘Did I score?’”
He did.
‘I almost feel like crying’
After his first season at LSU was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mitchell started 12 of the 36 games he played in and finished with a triple, a home run and 11 RBIs in Year 2.
Drew, a year older than Mitchell, created an instant connection with him. As road trip roommates, the two watched movies together into the wee-hours of the morning, sometimes watching different films or shows on their respective laptops and comparing notes.
“One of my best friends. And, super funny, lot of personality,” Drew said. “Again, hard to tell that just watching him play baseball. But no, big personality, always cracking jokes. Super easy to talk to, really about anything. … Just a really great dude.”
Partway through the 2021 season, Mitchell started having back troubles. His parents weren’t sure how serious it was given their son’s general stoicism, and it was hard to know if the pain stemmed from his football past or baseball present. The pain reached its breaking point in LSU’s regional at Oregon.
Mitchell had settled into the team’s designated hitter role and started LSU’s opener against No. 2 seed Gonzaga, batting cleanup. It would be the only game he’d play that postseason.
Mitchell took himself out of the game, the pain in his back too much to bear. He laid down on the dugout bench, hardly able to move. Mitchell flew back from the regional and did not travel with the team to the Knoxville Super Regional. Subsequent MRIs revealed stress fractures in his L4 and L5. The plan was to rehab through it.
Following a coaching change at LSU and uncertainty about his health, Mitchell transferred to UT-Arlington. Coaches there shut him down during the fall for the most part, Raegan said, in an attempt to have him fresh come spring. Mitchell did all the rehab assigned to him and was brought along slowly. During a game against Incarnate Word on March 12, 2022, Raegan received a call from her son.
“I remember him calling me in the middle of it, I was watching it on TV,” Raegan said. “And he called me in the middle and just said, ‘I’m taking myself out. I can’t do this any more. I almost feel like crying in the outfield.’”
Mitchell saw a doctor in the Arlington area and testing revealed that, despite rehab and rest, the stress fractures in his back had developed into full fractures. He would require surgery and nearly a year of recovery.
Despite the injury, Mitchell stayed with the team through the end of the season, driving himself to games when he had to. No, he couldn’t play. But he could still be a great teammate, even if he was being torn up inside by uncertainty.
“It’s such a long injury. It’s such a long recovery,” Dan said. “ … It’s hard for a kid to
see long-term at that age.”
‘A gamble’
Blake Dean recruited Mitchell out of high school, though he knew full well the odds of landing a player of that caliber at the University of New Orleans were low at best. But where the transfer portal taketh, it giveth in second chances to land players on the rebound.
Following two years at UNO, Mitchell was hopeful he would be selected in the 2024 MLB Draft and entered the transfer portal at the same time. Drew was sitting in Ole Miss recruiting coordinator Carl Lafferty’s office, and Lafferty asked if he knew anything about Mitchell. The Rebels were interested in him, Lafferty said, and wanted to gauge his interest. Drew called up Mitchell and talked things through.
Mitchell, having already turned 23, was going to sign if he was drafted. If he didn’t, he would take his talents to a major program. The two stayed in contact as schools courted Mitchell. He went undrafted, and the move to Oxford was set in motion, with Drew offering him a place to stay if he needed as he got settled in.
“As Laff gets super nervous, I’m like, ‘Man, if he doesn’t get drafted, he’s coming here. I promise,’” Drew said. “And it just ended up working out that way.”
Coming full circle
If you’re around the 2025 Ole Miss baseball team long enough, two mantras eventually reveal themselves. The first – to “shower well” – indicates the team can wash off the results of a previous game, regardless of what the result may have been. The second – that old teams win in college baseball – makes the first possible.
Following a two-year stretch where the team finished under .500 twice, went 17-43 in SEC play and missed the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years – a first under Mike Bianco – the Rebels retooled their roster. When it came to Mitchell, who better to speak on his character than a best friend
and son?
“You trust your children when you start to ask them about what kind of teammate they are, what kind of person they are, and you start checking those boxes,” Mike said. “Those are, I think, a little more secure boxes than just hearing from even a random coach.”
Veteran returning pitchers from the 2022 College World Series-winning team – Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox and Mason Nichols – have meshed seamlessly with a rebuilt outfield that features newcomers Isaac Humphrey (Louisville), Ryan Moerman (Illinois) and Mitchell.
“This game is hard and you’re not always going to be good and you’re not always going to be great. But it’s the teams that sometimes can recover from the low spots quicker, and so I think this is one of those teams,” Mike said. “ … You only do that if you enjoy being around the people that are in that locker room and in that dugout. And I think that lends itself to that.”
There is more season left for the Rebels, who enter postseason play as the No. 10 national seed and will host a regional for the first time since 2021. But Mitchell has had a few moments to soak in the current journey. As much as anyone can, he understands how quickly it can all be taken away.
“I’ve just learned to look at my career and be so appreciative that my body’s allowing me to play another year with great people, great fans,” Mitchell said. “It really is hard to not come to the field and just be super appreciative of the stuff that we get here and the opportunity that we have.”
Back in Berwick, an entire community remains united behind its superstar, proud to have been part of his journey. Bravata still shares every home run video Mitchell’s father posts on social media. Walker, meanwhile, uses Mitchell as an example to his current players, that if they do things the right way and remain committed to the process, they can accomplish great things.
“Everybody is proud of him,” Walker said.
Dean still keeps up with his former star, too, sending him occasional quips to “humble him up.” Drew, meanwhile, has come full circle with his best friend, a notion that a few years ago would have seemed unlikely, if not impossible. He’s proud, too, because he has seen everything Mitchell went through up close.
And then there are Mitchell’s parents, who are as proud of the person their son has become, if not more so, than they are with any athletic feats he’s accomplished. In a funny way, Raegan and Dan feel they owe Mitchell. Because they’ve learned a lesson about perseverance.
“It does finally come around and comes to,” Raegan said. “And I’m sure we’ll continue to have more knockdowns. Of course, it’s baseball, for one, as everybody says. But it’s real life in the midst of it. … We are extremely proud of him.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
