Photo courtesy of Samford Athletics.
Abbie Miranda
Abbie Miranda has the best hands of any player Mandy Burford has ever coached.
Mandy Burford saw something in the seventh-grade version of Abbie Miranda.
“I started softball in seventh grade and had no idea what I was doing,” Miranda recalled.
But the pieces fell into place.
Her father, Mark, played collegiate baseball at Birmingham-Southern College and was inducted in 2009 into the school’s Hall of Fame. He called upon his alma mater to set up a hitting lesson for his daughter. That hitting lesson was with Burford, an assistant coach with the BSC softball program at the time.
Burford saw all she needed in the middle school kid from Vestavia Hills, brand new to the game.
“We started working on infield drills when she was 12 (years old),” Burford said. “She had an attitude, like a chip on her shoulder. You have to have a couple of those pieces to build a team around. There was something in Abbie that I saw that I wanted to build around.”
Those instructional times laid the groundwork for Miranda’s future, although she did not realize it in the moment. Burford moved on to Samford University in 2011 and became the head coach in 2012.
“I looked at Samford because she had taught me a lot of the things I know about hitting. I just got lucky in the aspect that I had that relationship with her, and it definitely is what sparked my love for Samford,” Miranda said.
High school softball provided a taste of success for Miranda, as Lissa Walker took over at Vestavia Hills High School in 2011, after four state championships in 16 years at Hueytown High School.
Miranda played for Walker her junior and senior years at Vestavia and admits the team was a little hesitant at first, a common reaction to change. But the Rebels advanced to the state tournament each of those two years.
During those high school years, someone suggested to Burford that Miranda would be best suited for the outfield because of her average fielding ability. Burford’s response to that?
“I kind of laughed.”
In a twist of irony, defense is now the backbone of Miranda’s game, now a junior at Samford. Burford and her coaching staff discussed whether to put her at second base or shortstop before the season, but ultimately decided to leave her at second because of the responsibility and leadership required to man the position, along with the volume of ground balls hit to each side of the field.
“She has the best hands of any of our infielders or anyone I’ve coached,” Burford said. “Defensively, I could literally put her anywhere in the infield.”
But if there is one thing Burford emphasized repeatedly, it’s that “Miranda’s the hardest worker on the field.”
Burford continued: “She’s the hardest worker on and off the field. She just isn’t one that you can tell no to. She wants me to get madder at her. When she was going through this little slump, she wants me to just chew her out or something, get in her face. She works hard to correct everything she’s doing wrong.”
The home run is not the tell-all sign of a player’s offensive game improving, but it is a testament to the work Miranda has put in to becoming a better all-around player. In her freshman season alone, she hit four homers. She doubled that total with four more in her sophomore season.
As far as home run numbers at Vestavia go, there are not many to recount.
“I hit one home run, against Hueytown. One in four years,” Miranda said.
“She knows she’s only got four years at this, so she’s gotten stronger and faster, and her arm strength has gotten better, and she’s hitting the ball harder than she ever has,” Burford said. “Her hitting has evolved, and I think it will keep evolving until she’s finished playing.”
Miranda is proud of the family atmosphere that Burford and the players have helped create in the softball program, and one of her goals is to set a strong enough foundation so that remains once she leaves.
But there’s one thing that Burford won’t let you forget about Abbie Miranda.
“Something she’ll leave behind that I’ll have the biggest role to replace is, Miranda’s the hardest worker on the field,” she said.
