Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Local girl relishes her All-Star experience
For Kassidy Millar, All-Star Weekend meant meeting A-Rod, shagging fly balls during the Home Run Derby and winning a Pitch, Hit and Run title
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Sarah Weisner / The Herald
Kassidy Millar, 8, practices hitting a softball into a net Sunday afternoon. Millar recently returned from Anaheim, Calif., where she won the Pitch, Hit and Run competition during last week's All Star Game festivities.
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Photo courtesy LEJ Sports
Kassidy Millar of Marysvillle shows off the hardware she won in Anaheim.
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Sarah Weiser / The Herald
Mike Millar sets up a ball for Kassidy to hit during a practice Sunday at their home in Marysville.
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Photo courtesy LEJ Sports
Sarah Millar runs the bases in Anaheim.
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Sarah Weiser / The Herald
Kassidy Millar hits a softball into the net that she uses for practicing at her home in Marysville.
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Sarah Weiser / The Herald
Kassidy Millar practices pitching Sunday afternoon at the Millars' house in Marysville.
MARYSVILLE -- The 2010 softball season was already going great for 8-year-old Kassidy Millar of Marysville.
In the spring she was picked to be a bat girl for a few University of Washington home games, giving her the chance to meet her favorite athlete, UW ace pitcher Danielle Lawrie. And last month her team, the 10U Blaze '99 from Marysville, won the United States Specialty Sports Association state championship at a tournament in Federal Way.
Yep, some really good things were happening for young Kassidy, and it was hard to imagine it getting much better.
But it did.
Beginning in May, Kassidy advanced through local and sectional events of the Pitch, Hit and Run competition for boys and girls ages 7 to 14. Last month she reached the Seattle Mariners team championships at Safeco Field for youngsters from the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, and she finished with a score that placed her in the top three for girls in the 7-8 age group from the United States and Canada.
The result was an expenses-paid trip to the national finals in Anaheim, Calif., on Monday of last week, the day before Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Competing in Angel Stadium of Anaheim a few hours before the Home Run Derby, she finished ahead of her two rivals -- one a girl from Illinois, the other from Virginia -- for the national championship.
Later Kassidy got autographs and visited with All-Stars like Alex Rodriguez (who told her to mind her parents and read for an hour a day) and Nick Swisher from the New York Yankees, Josh Hamilton from the Texas Rangers, Marlon Byrd from the Chicago Cubs and Matt Capps from the Washington Nationals. And she got to shag balls in the outfield with the other Pitch, Hit and Run competitors during the Home Run Derby.
It was a thrilling experience for Kassidy and her parents Mike and Stacy Millar, who accompanied her to Anaheim.
"I would never have imagined she'd have this opportunity," Stacy Millar said. "I remember walking around the stadium and thinking, 'I just can't believe that we're here doing this.'
"I think it's hard for her to grasp at 8 years old. She says, 'I like to play baseball.' But I don't think she really understands the magnitude of what she's accomplished."
Well, maybe she understands a little bit.
"It was pretty exciting to have the experience to do this," Kassidy said with a big smile. "It's been pretty cool."
Mike Millar, who is also Kassidy's coach with the Blaze '99, says his daughter is very motivated to excel. The family has a pitching net and batting cage outside their home, "and there are very few days that she doesn't pitch or hit," he said. "She works hard.
"And one of the things I'd always told her was, 'If you work really hard and if you end up being one of the better players, this game can take you places you might not normally get to see.' So this was a good early example of her hard work paying off. And that was neat to me because it backed up what I'd been telling her."
For Kassidy, the best part of the trip to California was shagging balls in the outfield during the Home Run Derby. And for Mike Millar, that was the best part, too.
"As a little boy," he said, recalling his own childhood, "you always dreamed of being on a major league field and running around on that grass. So getting to see her do that, that was probably the neatest thing."
And there are still neat things yet to come. Kassidy, whose dream is to play softball at Washington, will be at Safeco Field to throw out the first pitch before Thursday's game between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox.
For now, the Millar's dining room table is buried beneath piles of pictures, trinkets and other souvenirs from their four days in Anaheim. And Kassidy's bedroom, which was already decorated with sports posters and photographs, now includes the large Pitch, Hit and Run trophy she won in Anaheim.
Aside from the memories of a wonderful trip, there have been other benefits as well.
As a younger girl, Stacy Millar said, Kassidy was "fairly shy. But I think that playing ball and being good at ball has given her a huge lift in her confidence." The whole experience, she added, "is still just unfathomable for me."
"She's been blessed to have had this opportunity," Mike Millar said. "And I was proud as heck of her every step of the way. The whole journey was pretty amazing."
In the spring she was picked to be a bat girl for a few University of Washington home games, giving her the chance to meet her favorite athlete, UW ace pitcher Danielle Lawrie. And last month her team, the 10U Blaze '99 from Marysville, won the United States Specialty Sports Association state championship at a tournament in Federal Way.
Yep, some really good things were happening for young Kassidy, and it was hard to imagine it getting much better.
But it did.
Beginning in May, Kassidy advanced through local and sectional events of the Pitch, Hit and Run competition for boys and girls ages 7 to 14. Last month she reached the Seattle Mariners team championships at Safeco Field for youngsters from the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, and she finished with a score that placed her in the top three for girls in the 7-8 age group from the United States and Canada.
The result was an expenses-paid trip to the national finals in Anaheim, Calif., on Monday of last week, the day before Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Competing in Angel Stadium of Anaheim a few hours before the Home Run Derby, she finished ahead of her two rivals -- one a girl from Illinois, the other from Virginia -- for the national championship.
Later Kassidy got autographs and visited with All-Stars like Alex Rodriguez (who told her to mind her parents and read for an hour a day) and Nick Swisher from the New York Yankees, Josh Hamilton from the Texas Rangers, Marlon Byrd from the Chicago Cubs and Matt Capps from the Washington Nationals. And she got to shag balls in the outfield with the other Pitch, Hit and Run competitors during the Home Run Derby.
It was a thrilling experience for Kassidy and her parents Mike and Stacy Millar, who accompanied her to Anaheim.
"I would never have imagined she'd have this opportunity," Stacy Millar said. "I remember walking around the stadium and thinking, 'I just can't believe that we're here doing this.'
"I think it's hard for her to grasp at 8 years old. She says, 'I like to play baseball.' But I don't think she really understands the magnitude of what she's accomplished."
Well, maybe she understands a little bit.
"It was pretty exciting to have the experience to do this," Kassidy said with a big smile. "It's been pretty cool."
Mike Millar, who is also Kassidy's coach with the Blaze '99, says his daughter is very motivated to excel. The family has a pitching net and batting cage outside their home, "and there are very few days that she doesn't pitch or hit," he said. "She works hard.
"And one of the things I'd always told her was, 'If you work really hard and if you end up being one of the better players, this game can take you places you might not normally get to see.' So this was a good early example of her hard work paying off. And that was neat to me because it backed up what I'd been telling her."
For Kassidy, the best part of the trip to California was shagging balls in the outfield during the Home Run Derby. And for Mike Millar, that was the best part, too.
"As a little boy," he said, recalling his own childhood, "you always dreamed of being on a major league field and running around on that grass. So getting to see her do that, that was probably the neatest thing."
And there are still neat things yet to come. Kassidy, whose dream is to play softball at Washington, will be at Safeco Field to throw out the first pitch before Thursday's game between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox.
For now, the Millar's dining room table is buried beneath piles of pictures, trinkets and other souvenirs from their four days in Anaheim. And Kassidy's bedroom, which was already decorated with sports posters and photographs, now includes the large Pitch, Hit and Run trophy she won in Anaheim.
Aside from the memories of a wonderful trip, there have been other benefits as well.
As a younger girl, Stacy Millar said, Kassidy was "fairly shy. But I think that playing ball and being good at ball has given her a huge lift in her confidence." The whole experience, she added, "is still just unfathomable for me."
"She's been blessed to have had this opportunity," Mike Millar said. "And I was proud as heck of her every step of the way. The whole journey was pretty amazing."
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