New London — Mitchell College softball coach Erin Miller visited the mound late in Sunday's blowout loss that capped off a doubleheader defeat.

Miller took the opportunity to make a point, emphasizing to her pitcher and infielders to refocus, make plays and finish out the final inning.

It was just another teaching moment for Miller, who's in the early stages of trying to build a winning mentality and winning program at Mitchell.

"Mental toughness is huge, not even just building up a program, I think on any team it's important," Miller said. "But I think especially when I'm trying to have a little bit of a culture change, it's even more important.

"We're going to lose games, that's the name of the game. They're going to hit the ball and they're going to score runs. How we capitalize on our opportunities and how we bounce back is going to show how mentally tough we are."

The Mariners regrouped, closing out the inning and then pushing across three runs in the bottom of the fifth on senior Maliah Pabellon's three-run home run, the program's first four-bagger at the new turf facility.

The game ended early due to the mercy rule, as Mitchell (2-9, 0-4) suffered a 21-8 loss after losing game one 9-6 to Eastern Nazarene (13-1, 7-1), the New England Collegiate Conference leader.

Pabellon, senior Laurissa Amaker (four RBI) and freshman Hannah Lemke each had five hits in the doubleheader.

Miller found some positives on a tough day.

"I'm proud of them for not just giving up essentially," Miller said. "I'm proud of them for continuing to hit. I just wish it happened a little bit sooner."

In her second season as head coach, Miller, the former Waterford High School and Eastern Connecticut State University star, was familiar with the Mitchell program long before taking over.

"I knew what I was getting myself into," she said. "But I think I have an awesome group of girls and people who really want to be here. We talk about commitment a lot. The 15 girls that I have now are 100 percent committed and that's what's going to continue to build our program."

Winning is something Miller knows all about.

Miller, a pitcher, played for two powerhouse softball programs in Waterford and ECSU, winning two state championships in high school and four Little East regular season titles in college. She started her coaching career serving as a pitching coach at Coast Guard Academy. She also spent two seasons as a graduate assistant and pitching coach at Smith College.

Mitchell is a different situation than her previous playing and coaching stops.

"Each team is different," Miller said. "It's very unique to have the kind of culture that we had at Eastern and camaraderie that we had, so I'm trying to find that here. And also thinking to myself, this isn't my college team, this is a completely different team and I have to work with what we have and build them up."

A first-time head coach, Miller has assembled a staff that includes assistant Danielle Barbato as well as volunteer assistants Kristina Torres, Bruce Miller and Alyssa Hancock. Bruce Miller is her uncle and Hancock a good friend and former high school and college teammate.

It's comforting to Miller to have Hancock by her side.

"She has been there every step of the way with me," Miller said. "Just having her voice and having someone who knows me as a person, as a coach, as a player and I know her, we complement each other's strengths and weaknesses.

"She's a more energetic, passionate person. I'm a little more stoic and calm, so it's nice, we balance each other out. It's just nice to have a friend to talk to in situations. Like, hey, what are we doing here? What can we change?"

It will take time for Miller and her staff to bring in more talent.

Miller has a beautiful new turf facility to sell to recruits. Recruiting restrictions due to the pandemic have made the search for future Mariners difficult. Her first season in charge ended after eight games last spring.

This spring, the Mariners have dealt with their share of COVID-19 related postponements and cancellations. They had five straight games called off before playing at Eastern Nazarene on Saturday, losing a doubleheader, 12-1 and 10-0, both in five innings.

Mitchell had a better showing on Sunday despite losing twice.

"We had a little bit of a pause last week with Mitchell closing down athletics, so that was tough," Miller said. "We came back and had only two days of practice and then we played (Saturday). So that was a little bit of a challenge not being able to be together and then play a game.

"(Saturday) was not a good showing of our team. This first game, (Sunday), I was so proud of them because we bounced back and we showed them we were here to fight and that we're a completely different team than they saw (Saturday)."

Through all the adversity, Miller has been happy with her team's attitude.

"Right now, it's tough losing" she said. "But I know how bad they want it and how much they want to be here, and they show that to me every day by showing up."

g.keefe@theday.com