Neshoba Central senior accepts softball scholarship to play at Ole Miss

Neshoba Central’s Tenly Grisham recently accepted a scholarship to play softball at the University of Mississippi beginning in spring 2023.

"I am excited and grateful to play for Ole Miss," said Grisham, who is a senior this year at Neshoba Central. 

Grisham is the daughter of Jason and Kendall Grisham of the Pearl River Community and plays third base for Neshoba Central where she will graduate this year.

"The opportunity to play at Ole Miss is a dream come true," Grisham said. "I just want aspiring athletes to know they can do anything they set their mind to. Just keep working hard to make yourself better at the game. Your rewards will come."

Grisham started playing softball at the age of 5 in the Choctaw Recreation League and later joined the Northside Park League where she helped the team win its first World Series Championship. 

"I was a little girl with the willingness to compete in a game that I loved to play," Grisham said.

Since then, Grisham has played in states throughout the nation with her travel softball team and in Native American softball tournaments.

Grisham has played on the nationally ranked Neshoba Central Softball varsity team since she was in the seventh grade and has eight state championship rings, four rings for slow-pitch softball and four rings for fast-pitch softball.

Grisham said she plans to major in pediatric dentistry while attending the University of Mississippi.

"Ole Miss' campus is beautiful, and the coaches and I just clicked," Grisham said. 

Grisham is often compared to her older cousin Hailey Lunderman Ellingburg who is also a former Neshoba Central Softball standout who also played at Ole Miss, Grisham’s mother said. 

Grisham's love of the game has also inspired her to teach younger children how to play softball, and she spends her time after school working with children.