Backroads and Ballfields: Ohio State Lands SouthArk Slugger Tanner Mitchell
By Daniel Wilson ·
South Arkansas College plays in El Dorado, Ark. The program has had one Power Four signee. It has never had a current or former player selected in the major league draft. Its coach thinks the player who just committed to Ohio State could change that.
Tanner Mitchell, a redshirt freshman last spring and now a redshirt sophomore from nearby Smackover, has verbally committed to the Buckeyes, Jason Avery of the El Dorado News-Times reported on Oct. 13. He is the first SouthArk position player to commit to a Power Four school. Asher Hamilton, a pitcher, was the first Power Four signee in program history when he committed to Oklahoma State last year.
"I am blessed to commit to Ohio State," Mitchell told Avery. "I just want to thank all my coaches, family and teammates who helped me along the way. I couldn't have done it without them! #gobucks!"
The Season
The line from this spring is .385 with 25 home runs, 57 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. According to the News-Times, no SouthArk player had ever hit 25 home runs and stolen 30 or more bases in the same season. He earned All-Region honors, and Natural State Baseball, which covers the college game in Arkansas, named him its Freshman of the Year for that first season on the field. His 25 homers led every college player in the state, including the ones in Fayetteville.
He also didn't do it alone, which is worth knowing when you read a junior college stat line. Natural State Baseball's leaderboard had four SouthArk hitters among the top five in the state in runs scored, with Kenner Lauterbach first at 73 and Mitchell second at 70. Teammate Noah Smith hit .445 with 20 homers and 92 RBIs and was the site's Player of the Year. Lauterbach hit .479. Mitchell was one strong bat among several, against the same pitching his teammates also hit hard.
That is the honest counterweight on any junior college season. The numbers are excellent, and they come from a level where they're hard to translate. The next question is how much of the line holds up against pitching that's a step better every week.
The Measurables
The best independent read on the tools comes from Prep Baseball's event data. At a Sept. 15 session, he posted a max exit velocity of 103.7 mph with an average of 92.5, and 75 percent of his batted balls were hit at 90 or harder. His longest ball carried 356 feet. His max throw across the infield was 92 mph.
The average exit velocity is the number I'd circle. A 103.7 max says he can hit a ball hard. A 92.5 average and a 75 percent hard-hit rate say he does it most of the time, at least in a setting without live pitching. The 356-foot max distance is modest next to the exit velocity. The public data doesn't show launch angles, so I can't say why.
He's listed at 6-foot and 195 pounds, bats and throws right-handed and is listed at shortstop and second base. Natural State Baseball put him at second on its all-state team. The 92 across the diamond gives him enough arm for the left side, and 31 steals say the legs are working. Ohio State will decide where he plays. I don't have a reliable public read on his range, so I'd hold off on projecting a position.
The Draft Question
Junior college players are eligible for the draft every year, so Mitchell's next chance is July 2027. Prep Baseball lists him at 20 years and 4 months old, so he will be 21 by that draft, old enough to be eligible at a four-year school too. Either way, 2027 is his draft year.
Cannon Lester, SouthArk's coach, put his own frame on it. "We will see Tanner playing professional baseball one day," Lester told the News-Times. Avery wrote that Lester believes Mitchell could become the program's first drafted player. Lester also talked about the road: "He has put in the work and been through every emotion you can think of when it comes to his playing career here. He will leave SouthArk as one of the most decorated players and deserves every ounce of success and notoriety he gets."
That is a coach's projection, and I'll leave it as his. Mitchell doesn't have an 80Grade draft rank yet. I've added him to our 2027 database with his school, his commitment and his draft year so he can be evaluated alongside the rest of the class.
He is also the second Union County player headed to Columbus in two years. Sam York of El Dorado starred at Hill College in Texas before signing with Ohio State last year.
What Comes Next
The junior college route out of south Arkansas is a long one. Mitchell played his high school ball in Smackover, stayed close to home at a two-year school that had never sent a position player to a Power Four program and put up a season nobody there had matched. That's a nontraditional path, and the numbers along it earn a closer read.
What would move the evaluation? Exit velocity and hard-hit data against live pitching would tell more than another workout session. A breakdown of the 25 homers by opponent and park would show how much of the power plays anywhere. Some public read on his defense would answer the position question. If the bat holds up against better arms, Lester's prediction stops being a hope and becomes a reasonable expectation.