Rylee Michalak finds faith, home on road to Missouri
June 27, 2025 at 12:00 a.m.
Rylee Michalak stands as one of the top softball pitchers in Mercer County history. The 2024 graduate of Notre Dame, Lawrenceville earned a scholarship to the University of Houston and was one of the Cougars top workhorses this past spring.
Something, however, wasn’t quite right.
Michalak loved her teammates and liked and respected the program’s recently-hired new head coach. But Rylee was not cut out for the big-city atmosphere of Houston.
Thus, on June 26 she officially transferred to the University of Missouri, Columbia. It is where Michalak wanted to go all along, but she got started the recruiting process too late while at Notre Dame.
“I wanted more of a college town, which is exactly what I’m gonna get,” Michalak said. “I was looking for a place where there was support all around. (Coach Larissa Anderson) was talking about how she would go to the store or walk around campus and people would come up to her and say, ‘Hey coach good luck.’ There’s a lot of support.”
The support that Michalak needed to make her transfer decision came from more than just friends, parents, or coaches. She asked for it from God.
It was one of the biggest decisions in her life. She fretted over staying at Houston or transferring.
And then. . .
“There was one night leading up to it I was just so on edge, so stressed about everything and I was driving home and I just spoke to God the whole time and I prayed,” Michalak said. “I asked for the courage to make this decision and two nights later I was in the transfer portal.
“Once I was able to open up and lay it all out there to Him it was a game-changer. I feel like I prayed through the whole process but that night was the biggest night I just really let my whole guard down and told him ‘This is what I need from you, I need you to give me this strength to help me let go of any of that fear that I have,’ and that’s what happened.”
Michalak has been a parishioner of St. Gregory the Great, Hamilton, all her life but she attended public school through eighth grade.
“Once I was at Notre Dame I was able to learn more about (faith and religion) and grow in ways I didn’t necessarily do from CCD or St. Greg’s,” Michalak said. “That was really big for me.”
A turning point came during her senior year, when Michalak went on Notre Dame’s Kairos Retreat.
“I was able to disconnect for three days and grow with my friends and peers and feel really connected with God and my faith,” she said. “I was able to explore that more. That was the biggest thing at Notre Dame I was able to grow my faith from.”
While at Houston, Michalak attended a non-denominational church on campus “that was a little different than what I was used to but I was able to keep my own practices going with my teammates.”
She turned to daily prayer during tough times and joined UH’s Athletes in Action; a Cru ministry whose vision involves connecting athletes with Christ and dispatching them to reach out to their teams and beyond.
Michalak formed a strong relationship with one of the faith leaders who she considered a blessing.
“She was able to help me reach a calm at times when I was really stressed,” Michalak said. “It wasn’t like I was spilling things out or getting therapy from it. It was just a conversation and she was helping me to grow.”
It all combined to keep Michalak on steady course throughout the school year. After enduring some early highs and lows in Texas, her faith “got me to where I was content and happy with where my feet were. It was the biggest lesson learned.”
A lesson she carried with her into the softball season, during which she tied for the team lead with 23 appearances and led the Cougars with 14 starts. She finished 6-5 with a 5.75 ERA, and while she paced the team with 35 strikeouts, she also led with 40 walks.
“During the season I was getting challenged a lot,” Michalak said. “I found there’s a reason for everything; there’s a greater plan. That was something I was really falling back on.”
It culminated with Michalak’s conversation with the Lord while driving home earlier this month.
“I was able to really talk to God and just kind of let my guard down and trust that,” she said. “Just take a deep breath, stop being so stressed and go with what I know in my heart and in prayer is meant to happen. That it’s His plan and not mine at that point.”
One woman happy with the plan is Rylee’s new coach, who Michalak saw speak when she was playing 12U softball.
“What really interested me about Rylee is her background being from New Jersey and the relationships I have with her travel ball coaches,” said Anderson, one of the nation’s top collegiate coaches. “They could speak to me about her character, work ethic, passion and drive to be successful.
“I was also very interested that she was only going to be a sophomore and I would be able to develop her over the next three years of her career. This was a huge priority for us in our long terms plans of our bullpen.”
It sounds like a win-win for both player and coach.
“The amount of fans that they average at games is insane,” Michalak said. “That’s the kind of stuff you always dream about when you’re playing. To be able to have that is exactly what I was looking for.”
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Rylee Michalak stands as one of the top softball pitchers in Mercer County history. The 2024 graduate of Notre Dame, Lawrenceville earned a scholarship to the University of Houston and was one of the Cougars top workhorses this past spring.
Something, however, wasn’t quite right.
Michalak loved her teammates and liked and respected the program’s recently-hired new head coach. But Rylee was not cut out for the big-city atmosphere of Houston.
Thus, on June 26 she officially transferred to the University of Missouri, Columbia. It is where Michalak wanted to go all along, but she got started the recruiting process too late while at Notre Dame.
“I wanted more of a college town, which is exactly what I’m gonna get,” Michalak said. “I was looking for a place where there was support all around. (Coach Larissa Anderson) was talking about how she would go to the store or walk around campus and people would come up to her and say, ‘Hey coach good luck.’ There’s a lot of support.”
The support that Michalak needed to make her transfer decision came from more than just friends, parents, or coaches. She asked for it from God.
It was one of the biggest decisions in her life. She fretted over staying at Houston or transferring.
And then. . .
“There was one night leading up to it I was just so on edge, so stressed about everything and I was driving home and I just spoke to God the whole time and I prayed,” Michalak said. “I asked for the courage to make this decision and two nights later I was in the transfer portal.
“Once I was able to open up and lay it all out there to Him it was a game-changer. I feel like I prayed through the whole process but that night was the biggest night I just really let my whole guard down and told him ‘This is what I need from you, I need you to give me this strength to help me let go of any of that fear that I have,’ and that’s what happened.”
Michalak has been a parishioner of St. Gregory the Great, Hamilton, all her life but she attended public school through eighth grade.
“Once I was at Notre Dame I was able to learn more about (faith and religion) and grow in ways I didn’t necessarily do from CCD or St. Greg’s,” Michalak said. “That was really big for me.”
A turning point came during her senior year, when Michalak went on Notre Dame’s Kairos Retreat.
“I was able to disconnect for three days and grow with my friends and peers and feel really connected with God and my faith,” she said. “I was able to explore that more. That was the biggest thing at Notre Dame I was able to grow my faith from.”
While at Houston, Michalak attended a non-denominational church on campus “that was a little different than what I was used to but I was able to keep my own practices going with my teammates.”
She turned to daily prayer during tough times and joined UH’s Athletes in Action; a Cru ministry whose vision involves connecting athletes with Christ and dispatching them to reach out to their teams and beyond.
Michalak formed a strong relationship with one of the faith leaders who she considered a blessing.
“She was able to help me reach a calm at times when I was really stressed,” Michalak said. “It wasn’t like I was spilling things out or getting therapy from it. It was just a conversation and she was helping me to grow.”
It all combined to keep Michalak on steady course throughout the school year. After enduring some early highs and lows in Texas, her faith “got me to where I was content and happy with where my feet were. It was the biggest lesson learned.”
A lesson she carried with her into the softball season, during which she tied for the team lead with 23 appearances and led the Cougars with 14 starts. She finished 6-5 with a 5.75 ERA, and while she paced the team with 35 strikeouts, she also led with 40 walks.
“During the season I was getting challenged a lot,” Michalak said. “I found there’s a reason for everything; there’s a greater plan. That was something I was really falling back on.”
It culminated with Michalak’s conversation with the Lord while driving home earlier this month.
“I was able to really talk to God and just kind of let my guard down and trust that,” she said. “Just take a deep breath, stop being so stressed and go with what I know in my heart and in prayer is meant to happen. That it’s His plan and not mine at that point.”
One woman happy with the plan is Rylee’s new coach, who Michalak saw speak when she was playing 12U softball.
“What really interested me about Rylee is her background being from New Jersey and the relationships I have with her travel ball coaches,” said Anderson, one of the nation’s top collegiate coaches. “They could speak to me about her character, work ethic, passion and drive to be successful.
“I was also very interested that she was only going to be a sophomore and I would be able to develop her over the next three years of her career. This was a huge priority for us in our long terms plans of our bullpen.”
It sounds like a win-win for both player and coach.
“The amount of fans that they average at games is insane,” Michalak said. “That’s the kind of stuff you always dream about when you’re playing. To be able to have that is exactly what I was looking for.”