Mikaela Coburn, a 2023 out of Shelbyville, Kentucky, didn’t find herself with the nickname “Pnut” without reason.
The junior outfielder stands 5 foot 2 inches and weighs in at a whopping 110 pounds. Growing up, Pnut has always had to work harder than anyone else to stand out because of her petite size but she is living up to the adage that “big things come in small packages!”
Prior to her joining her current Tennessee Fury 2023 club team, Mikaela routinely turned heads while playing with the Southern Force organization despite her small frame thanks to the athlete’s ability to make hard contact and put the ball where the defense isn’t.
This Fall, her play has continued to elevate as she leads the Fury in runs scored with 22, steals with 24, walks with 10 and is third with 19 hits—just three off the team lead.
Pnut also has shined with a .509 on-base percentage this season and has struck out just five times.
Two years ago, Coaches Jim Shoulders and Heather Cole decided to join forces and combine his Southern Force crew with her Fury team. While once comfortable playing with just the “SoFo” team, Pnut suddenly found herself under a new roof in more ways than one.
That Fall, it seemed like the weight of the world was weighing on the player’s shoulders as she moved from her hometown school, McCracken County High in Paducah, Kentucky, to her current residence in Shelbyville where she now plays for Collins High.
Along with attending a new high school, the club merger forced upon her a new head coach and several new teammates. In wasn’t a surprise, then, when Pnut struggled to settle into her new surroundings and found herself frustrated with her new role.
According to her coaches, Mikaela felt once again as if she was being discounted for her small size and struggled to produce at the plate as well as in her new position lining up right field.
Seeing that the young player felt overlooked and displaced, Coach Shoulders still knew what Pnut could bring to the table if she found some comfort in her new surroundings and patiently waited for her to make a move.
It came at the Bolts 5 Star tournament in Alabama, the last Fall tournament of the 2019 season, when Pnut approached Coach Cole expressing her desire to give more to the team.
“We left that day,” remembers Coach Cole, “only to return the next summer to see a completely different player and teammate walk onto the field in the #3 Fury uniform.”
In the Summer of 2020, the coaches had rebuilt over half of the team to a total of 12 and were excited to see the inspired Pnut who had come to play at an inspired level.
“Pnut brought swag to the table last Summer,” continues Coach Cole, “and she brought a type of confidence and stoic leadership that we hadn’t seen yet. She went from shy and unsure to being the ‘fire in the soul’ of our team.”
As a leadoff, she opened eyes with her new-found power as the small but strong hitter tied with the cleanup power hitter on the team with a 1.074 OPS. Pnut also led the team with a .432 batting average, a .584 slugging percentage and was second behind only the 4-hole hitter with 30 RBIs on the season.
This Spring for her new high school varsity team she continued to impress, not only earning a starting outfield spot, but taking over leadoff duties and earning All-Region honors.
“Every opportunity Pnut got,” remembers Coach Cole, “she continued to make noise and used each one as a stepping stone to get closer and closer to being that impact player.”
Heading into club play this Summer (2021), Pnut began working with the University of Kentucky’s big triple threat lefty, Kayla Kowalik.
“Kayla has challenged her and helped her grow in so many facets of her game,” Cole says, “adding new elements that made Pnut the hardest out on our team.”
In travel ball play this past summer, the triple threat leadoff hitter’s skills become even more evident as she batted .492 with a .545 on-base percentage and struck out just three times in 59 at-bats. All told, Pnut put the ball in play over 90 percent of her at-bats and, equally impressive, as shown by her spray chart below, she used the full field, driving the ball line-to-line, gap-to-gap in the outfield while utilizing her short game tools in the infield.
“Mikaela increased her previous year slugging percentage from .584 to .746,” says a proud Coach Cole, “and also increased her slugging percentage from a 1.074 OPS to a huge 1.291 OPS. All of this as a leadoff triple threat lefty slapper!”
Pnut also brings speed to the table with a home-to-first time of 2.8 seconds on the laser timer and has been perfecting her short game with her drag bunt, chop slap and soft slap to pull the defense in.
“It’s fun to watch the defense try and adjust when Pnut comes up to the plate,” laughs Coach Cole. “They pull in and play traditional slap defense and she power slaps one into the gap for a triple; they back up and she drops one under their nose and catches them on their heels. Then, they scramble to figure out how to play her in the next round.”
A quiet leader, Pnut nonetheless has picked up another catchy nickname more descriptive of her aggressive style of play.
“We call her the ‘Fire Starter,’” Cole explains, “but when I think of it, it’s more like she is a whole can of lighter fluid and the spark for the team to catch fire!”
“Her swagged-out calm demeanor, approach to the plate and ability to challenge every pitcher she faces is so much fun to watch. It’s like she is playing a game of cards and she is forcing the pitcher to show her hand while she takes them deep into the count and helps prepare her line-up behind her for what they will face.”
In September, the Fury team was infused with new talent and, although a 16U team now, the roster includes five 2023’s, seven ‘24’s, and one ’25. That youth, however, hasn’t kept the team from playing impressively: for the Fall season to date, the team has a 15-7 record and even played up at the PGF Mid-South September Showcase where it finished second.
Subsequently, the Fury went to MS Bombers and finished 3-1, recorded a 4-3 record at Scenic City and finished 3-2 at Veterans this past weekend.
“My team was good in the Summer,” Cole says candidly, “but this team right here is great! We have team players in every sense of the word.”
And Pnut, who’s been with the coach for the last three years, has become one of the undisputed leaders on the team.
“She’s a great leadoff,” says teammate Bailey Wimsatt, “and is a beast on the field with a great softball IQ. The thing that stands out most about Pnut is that she has my back— not just on the field but off. She is the definition of a real sister.”
Another teammate, Raygan Rodgers, raves about the outfielder’s leadership skills.
“Pnut starts the game as a good leadoff with her ability to see the ball and make contact, but it’s her attitude that has always made her stand out to me because she has everyone’s back, no matter what. She will lift me up when I need it the most and makes playing feel more like home.”
What does the athlete herself think about where she is today, including being a team leader?
“Softball to me,” Mikaela admits, “is about getting to see my best friends every weekend. On the field, though, my favorite part of the game is being up to bat in clutch situations!”
“The confidence in the dugout and from her coaches when Pnut is up to bat in a tight situation is amazing,” marvels Coach Cole. “The energy is insane! It’s loud and every face is on that fence when she steps into the box. It doesn’t matter if there are two outs, if she is in an 0-2 count or a 3-2 count and fouled off 10 pitches: Pnut is stoic, and you can see she is confident in her plan.”
Considering where she was two years ago, facing everything new after a move, it’s even more remarkable for those around her to have witnessed the meteoric rise the speedy outfielder has made.
It’s also been noticed by college coaches as she received several calls on September 1—the first day current juniors could be contacted—including one that has her preparing for an official visit to a “dream school”
“To see where Pnut started with this team to where she is now,” continues her club coach, “it’s been amazing—especially to have watched the journey she’s had to go through. She went from the kid hidden in the back of the pack to being front and center.”
That metamorphosis has seen the quiet caterpillar morph into a confident butterfly, too, in more ways than one.
“Today, Pnut shines in her roles as our starting centerfielder and captain in the outfield,” Cole says. “Before it was like pulling teeth to get her to call her infield off for a ball, bow she has become so comfortable with directing traffic and taking control over communications—not only with her infield, but her outfield as well.”
At a combine recently, the junior’s laser time speed was 2.89 in the 60. She also had a Pocket Radar overhand velocity of 64 mph, a Rapsodo measured exit velocity of 65 mph off the tee and a Blast bat speed mark of 59.2 mph.
“To see Pnut progress and turn into such an amazing player has been incredible to be a part of,” her coach concludes. “That growth isn’t just showing on the field or in the dugout, it’s being reflected by game and her personal outcomes and jumps out at you in her stats. Pnut just keeps growing and keeps getting better and better.”
