USC pitcher Mariah Anderson is joined by her family after the Rebels won the Class A State Softball Championship. Pictured, left to right are her brothers Brennan, Ryder, her mother Kim, Mariah and her father Toby.

United South Central softball pitcher Mariah Anderson has certainly left her imprint on the sport, not only locally for the Rebels but also in the state of Minnesota.

Anderson graduates from high school as the Minnesota State High School all-time leader in career strikeouts with 1,822 having surpassed the previous record by 180 strikeouts. In the final game of her high school career, she also broke the State record for strikeouts in a single season with 437.

Anderson certainly has come a long way from her early days of playing T-ball as a young girl.

“After T-ball, I started playing softball around fourth grade,” Anderson recalls. “Everybody pitched when we were younger.”

She says things started to change during seventh grade.

“It was mid-way through my seventh grade year when I knew my velocity was improving,” Anderson comments. “I didn’t start throwing a rise ball until I was in eighth grade.”

After the school season she kept working on her game by playing softball throughout the summer.

She played for the Mankato Peppers for two years and then joined the Peppers National team after her freshman year where she mostly pitched, but also played in the outfield.

“I started getting pitching lessons from Britt Stewart, who was the head coach at Gustavus at the time,” Anderson says. “I had met her at a Mankato Peppers camp.”

Anderson has also worked with former college standout pitcher Coley Ries Welter.

“Coley was the pitcher for the Minnesota State University – Mankato Mavericks when they won the National Championship in 2017,” Anderson comments. “She had coached part of the summer when I played Peppers 16U softball and she is now an assistant coach at MSU.”

And that means Anderson will be seeing more of Ries Welter when Anderson begins her college career since the USC graduate has signed to play softball for the Mavericks.

Looking back at her high school career, Anderson understands how she grew as a player, both in the mechanics of the game along with the mental aspect of the sport.

“It’s not just velocity, hitters will “time-up” the speed of the pitches,” Anderson states. “I worked on getting a tighter spin and experience helped me know the game more and I learned how to pitch and the importance of location.”

Then there is the mental aspect of the game.

“I was very shy,” Anderson admits. “But as my confidence grew I became more of a vocal leader.”

Assistant USC softball coach, Joe Kuechenmeister, who would call the pitches from the Rebel dugout, echoed the pitcher’s assessment.

“She is mentally tough,” Kuechenmeister says. “And you need to have that mental toughness as a pitcher. There are things you can’t control as a pitcher and you still have to take the ball and be ready to pitch.”

Kuechenmeister notes that Anderson possessed a good assortment of pitches.

“She threw a rise ball, both a high-rise ball along with a low-rise ball that would curve away from hitters. She also has a good change-up,” Kuechenmister states. “Her assortment of pitches, along with her ability to mix speeds and hit her locations, made her very effective.”

The assistant coach says there is one more thing that contributes to Anderson’s success.

“She has an incredible work ethic,” Kuechenmeister shares. “She puts in the time to make herself better.”

With all her success and accomplishments in softball, it is easy to forget that just a few months ago, Anderson was standing on the podium after taking third place in the all-around at the Class A Minnesota State Gymnastics meet.

It was the first year Anderson competed in high school gymnastics after USC and Blue Earth Area fielded a joint team.

“It was the first year I’d really been injured participating in gymnastics. We had a lot of meets,” Anderson remarks. “It was a great experience to get to know the BEA girls and I made many new friends.”

Did she ever have any thoughts of continuing her gymnastics career in college?

“It would have been fun but I don’t know if I could have done gymnastics for four more years,” Anderson says. “And after winning all the softball games it would have been hard to walk away.”

After winning the school’s first State Softball Championship last year, Anderson said this year was different.

“We had new players on the team so it was more of a learning year,” Anderson states. “We had to fight more and I think we felt more pressure because we were expected to go back to State. So learning how to deal with the pressure was a big thing.”

Anderson’s father, Toby, and her mother, Kim, witnessed the growth of the USC team through the season.

“As the year went on they learned to overcome their mistakes,” Toby says.

“It almost seemed more gratifying to be able to come back and win State again this year,” Kim added.

Last year’s USC team lost only one game all year. This year the Rebels lost three games during the regular season and then were defeated by Nicollet in the second round of the double-elimination Section 2A Tournament.

“I believe we really came together after the Nicollet loss,” Anderson says. “Last year at State was a blur – things happened so fast it was almost overwhelming. This year I felt more prepared, like we could take it all in and enjoy it.”

She also gives the coaches credit.

“They were dealing with a different team this year and I felt like they evolved throughout the year,” Anderson comments. “They knew we had potential and they let us know if we wanted to go to State again we were going to have to work for it and earn it.”

Anderson has two brothers, Brennan, a previous USC graduate and a younger brother, Ryder.

“I really think Mariah has been a good influence on Ryder,” Toby says. “He has come to understand the value of hard work by watching Mariah.”

When Anderson isn’t on the diamond, you might find her babysitting for her cousins, shopping, hanging out with her friends or enjoying a drink from Starbucks.

“I also help coach at K & G gymnastics in Mankato,” she comments. “And I have done some pitching coaching.”

In addition to her strikeout records, Anderson was also named as the 2026 Strib Varsity Player of the Year by the Minnesota Star Tribune, selected to play in the Minnesota All-Star Series and is a nominee for Ms. Minnesota Softball, an award which will be given out on June 17.

Anderson shares the way her high school career ended, by striking out a batter to win the State Championship, is something she will always remember.

“It was the best way to end it,” she comments. “It was pretty cool.”

Kuechenmeister shares his final thoughts.

“I think I can speak for our other two coaches as well when I say it was a privilege to share the dugout with Mariah,” he states. “Not just because of the athlete she was, but also because of the character she showed throughout her career and the teammate she was to all who wore the Rebel uniform. What an incredible ride.”