Relaxing in her family’s living room with her father, young Kara Mekulsia pointed at the television and declared her future plans. “That’s what I want to do,” she said as she and her father watched a college softball game. “I want to be a pitcher. I want to play softball in college. You’ re gonna watch me on TV someday.” Now a senior at Madison, Mekulsia is well on her way to making her three-pronged goal come to fruition. She’s a high-level pitcher for the Blue Streaks, having just recorded her 500th career strikeout. Additionally, she’s committed to pitch collegiately at Otterbein. She hasn’t gotten any television air-time yet, but — well — give her time. “This is definitely something I’ve always wanted to do,” Mekulsia said. “I remember sitting with my dad watching TV and telling him that’s what I want to do. My mom and dad have been very supportive of my goals.” Heading into this week’s games Mekulsia is 5-1 with a 1.51 earned-run average, striking out 71 batters in 37 innings pitched. In a 20-1 win over Orange, she recorded her 500th career strikeout, which is among the best in Madison program history. Madison’s Kara Mekulsia has struck out 500 batters in her career. (John Kampf – The News-Herald) “It feels surreal to hit 500,” Mekulsia said. “When I first started as a freshman, I wanted to go out and prove something. I had pretty big shoes to fill when Alyssa Lavdis graduated.” But Mekulsia’s story goes back well beyond that first varsity appearance back on March 30, 2021, against Youngstown Ursuline. It started with her declared dream sitting with her father in the living room and quickly grew. “My first experience in softball was in a coach-pitch league,” she said. “I couldn’t pitch, but stood right next to the coach that was every single time. I started pitching when I was 9.” Well, sort of. She was whipping the ball to her father well before that. “She was never the fastest,” said father Brian, a multi-sport athlete at Chardon who graduated in 1998, “but we called her ‘old reliable.’ She threw strikes. She just went out there and did her thing and just got better and better.” Knowing their daughter’s passion for pitching, Brian and his wife signed their daughter up for pitching lessons. Among those who tutored young Kara was Riley Frizell, a former All-Ohioan at South who played collegiately at Missouri and Louisville and is now an assistant coach at Auburn.   It was through the lessons that Mekulsia expanded upon and fine-tuned her pitching repertoire. “My best pitch is a rise ball, then a curve,” she said. “My fastball is around 64-65 mph. I get a lot of spin on it. My father hates catching it because he never knows where it’s going — it moves that much. Kara Mekulsia “My first pitching coach was Riley Frizell. I remember her telling me, ‘I never thought you’d be as good as you are now, but I’m glad you proved me wrong.'” Meklusia took the starting spot vacated by Lavdis’ graduation and ran with it. She struck out 99 batters as a ninth-grader, but her last two seasons have been her best, going 12-8 with 139 strikeouts as a sophomore and then 10-8 with 191 punchouts as a junior. Mekulsia said she remembers how nervous she was making her first varsity start as a freshman. Now a seasoned veteran, she’s only nervous if she doesn’t follow her stringent pregame rituals. Related Articles Riverside softball team is state-ranked for first time in program history High school scoreboard for April 14 South vs. Perry softball: Rebels get clutch hits in an 8-4 win over the Pirates News-Herald softball Top of the Crop for April 14 High school scoreboard for April 12 “I cannot pitch in an undershirt,” she said with a laugh regarding her pregame nuances. “My hair always has to be in bubbles. I have a pink ribbon in my hair, no matter what. I recently had to text my mom that I forgot my ribbon, so she had to go back and get it for me.” That attention to detail is what has made her successful, not only on the softball field, but also in the classroom. She sports an impressive 4.3 grade-point average. The last time she got a B was on a science test in third grade. “I was so sad,” she said. “I came home crying to my mom. So yeah, I guess I’m a perfectionist and I’m pretty superstitious, as you can tell.” From the moment she watched softball on TV with her dad, through all the lessons, then to her college commitment, Mekulsia’s journey in the game of softball has been a memorable one. All of those memories came flooding back to her April 9 in a postgame ceremony recognizing her 500th career strikeout. “My parents walking out on the field, people holding up posters, flowers, pictures, my mom in tears,” Mekulsia said of the day’s events. “I think about it all and — wow — this is what it’s all come to.” It all started the day she pointed at the TV and told her dad, “That’s what I want to do.” And she’s doing it. ...read more read less