AURORA - Mikey Mylott has come a long way in a short time.

“I was a horrible player my freshman year of high school,” the Western Reserve incoming senior admitted. “I was a below average JV player.”

Standing 6-0 and weighing 135 pounds as a ninth grader, Mylott now checks in at 6-4 and tips the scale at 210.

“I started working hard and focused in the weight room,” Mylott explained.

The ability with the bat now stands out as well.

“I’ve been working with Tyler Mitchell at PPA for two years,” noted the 95th-rated 2021 in Ohio. “He’s turned me into a solid hitter and helped me learn about my body.”
This summer Mylott has exploded on the scene with five home runs 

“All the pieces went together this summer season,” Mylott said. “I worked hard during the quarantine and my game has come together.”

The end result is a commitment with Bradley.

“I started talking to Bradley a month-and-a-half ago,” the sixth-ranked senior third baseman in the state reflected. “They said to send them videos and they liked what they saw. I barrelled a ball off a guy from Bradley (Brooks Gosswein) in a tournament on Friday and they offered on Saturday. I accepted Monday.”

Gosswein and Keaton Rice, a pair of juniors in the Bradley program, helped bring a connection to Mylott and the coaches at the Missouri Valley Conference school.

“I’ve been training with those two players,” Mylott explained. “They talked about team culture, how they had a family there and can develop players. Their goal is to win and I want to be a part of that.”

Dayton and Charleston offered Mylott before a decision to make Bradley, an eight-hour drive from his Aurora home, his college destination.

“They really like my hit tool,” Mylott said of the coaches at Bradley. “They see me as a corner outfielder or corner infielder. They like how I have a good arm, but they’re bringing me in to hit.”

That is an area of the game Mylott has made strides.

“My hit tool has really improved,” Mylott noted. “Working with Tyler has helped. He’s really been challenging my swing. My arm strength is another area that has definitely improved. I’ve gone from 80 to 95 with my outfield velo.”

The need to continue improving is vital before arriving at the campus in Peoria, Ill.

“I plan to keep working on what I’m doing, but add speed to it,” Mylott said.

There is more than a strong stick and arm strength that Mylott believes he can bring to the Bradley program.

“I have fun when I’m playing,” Mylott pointed out. “I’m loose and have fun.”

Three older brothers, two that played at Rochester Institute of Technology, along with his parents have been a big part of his game getting where it is today according to Mylott, with “everybody at PPA” as well as Ben Simon and the Brownlee organization others that have been crucial in development.

“The recruiting process definitely wasn’t what I thought it would be because of COVID,” Mylott related. “It was more watching video and going off players’ words. It actually went pretty quick for me. I was playing well this summer and they made a quick decision.”

A commitment was an easy choice in the end.

“I really like the coaching staff at Bradley,” Mylott noted. “I built a great relationship with (hitting) coach (Kyle) Trewyn and then loved the coaching philosophy of (head) coach (Elvis) Dominguez.”

Business will be the college major for Mylott, who carries a 3.9 GPA in high school.

“This takes a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Mylott said of committing. “I’m having a lot of fun playing baseball now. I’m playing completely loose.”

And certainly much better than two years ago when, as Mylott said, “I was a bad player.”