Sometimes it’s nice to have a prompt for how one book can change the viewpoint of your world.A phone notification popped up for Springboro senior Bella Miller early in the day on April 15. The message provided a reminder of the source for her strength she uses to tackle challenges presented on the softball field and everyday life.The notification sent to her and others across the country told individuals it was “Jackie Robinson Day” across Major League Baseball. A day created in 2004 to celebrate a historical moment in the history of the United States.Robinson made his MLB debut on April 15, 1947, as the first player of color to participate in a big league game.

And 79 years later the trials and tribulations he endured on his path to becoming a player for the Brooklyn Dodgers have been storified in countless entertainment mediums.A book all about Robinson that Miller read in her youth — simply titled “Who Was Jackie Robinson?” — unknowingly laid the groundwork for her of where she could look to when in any need of inspiration.Robinson wore 42 for the Dodgers. The number has been retired across MLB since 1997. And it wasn’t available for Miller to wear when she joined Springboro’s softball team because there were no jersey options that had it.But it was the number she had already chosen for herself to wear and she wanted to make it happen.Going into her junior season, Miller asked head coach Rodney Coffey about the possibility of getting 42.

During her freshman and sophomore years she wore 44 as it was the closest number printed.Her request was granted. Miller said Coffey got jerseys numbered 42 made for her to wear during games.“That meant a lot for me that it was specially made because I just didn’t feel right having the number 44 because 42 is my number for so many years,” Miller said.What the number meansIt wasn’t the first choice for Miller to go with 42 on the back of her jersey.Her mother wore the number six when she played and that’s what Miller wanted to wear as well. But her youth team didn’t have that ready as an option for her, so instead she chose nine since it was “the upside down version of that.”The next team she joined didn’t have either number available.That was when she had just finished reading “Who Was Jackie Robinson?”.“When I came home from school, my dad was like, ‘Hey, you have to pick a number but they don’t have nine or six available,’” she said.

“I remember that in the book I read that they retired number 42 in MLB because of the impact he made and I know that they didn’t do that in softball. So I told my dad that I just wanted to be number 42 and it’s just stuck ever since.”Miller said that decision and season sparked everything for her. It helped she performed well, she said, to help make it a special number she wanted to continue wearing.Keeping 42 helps Miller push herself through moments of adversity.

She said when she needs to, she will recall the moments of adversity Robinson faced from the world and how he pushed through it to become, as she described him, “one of the best MLB players” ever.She said that anything she faces on the softball field or elsewhere may seem trivial compared to what Robinson endured, but she took his story to heart. She admires him and believes it motivates her to push through any rough patch put in front of her.“Everyone always asks me about it and they’re like, ‘well, I don’t know why you have that number because it doesn’t really mean anything to you.’ I tell them I get it, but when I was little it meant something to me and I just have kept that number for the rest of my life and it means a lot to me to have this number today.”Leaving her legacyMiller is a career .518 hitter for Springboro through her 81-game career that has at least a dozen or so left to be played.

During her junior year she set single season records for hits (54), doubles (18) and RBI (49).She has 112 career RBIs, which is seven away from setting another new school record. Miller also has an opportunity to approach career records for doubles, home runs, and slugging percentage closer to the end of the season.For as much of an impact she makes for the Panthers on the diamond, Coffey said her teammates recognize her impact off of it.He said a constant discussion with the team involves asking, ‘What did you get and what are you giving your program?’ And through Miller’s four years, Coffey said her own growth into an example her peers respect has allowed her to give back to the program a ton.“She was unanimously chosen to be one of our leaders and has just done an incredible job,” he said.

“Last year was just such a pivotal year. We had a lot of seniors, and she was kind of looked at by the incoming new varsity players we added as the leader. She had already played that level of ball with the intensity and what she did to help build a culture.”Springboro athletic director Austin Rhoads, who previously coached baseball at Lakota West and Princeton, has gotten to watch some of the b