TORONTO – Mvskoke citizen Anna Kelly participated in the Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit, and Run finals at the World Series in October. The Okmulgee fifth grader and her mom, Jennifer Kelly (Mvskoke), boarded their first flight to travel to Toronto for the skill-based competition.
The co-ed event for ages 7-14 tests competitors’ skills at pitching accuracy, hitting distance, and sprinting speed. Competitions begin at the local level and move to team competitions and then finals. A competitor’s scores stay with them as they move up in competition.
The Okmulgee fifth grader first started playing when she was 7 years old, that’s when she started to have a passion for softball and started to enjoy pitching.
During the local competitions, Anna tried her hardest but didn’t pay attention to her scores until the end- she was happy with how she did.
“For the try out, they had to do 3 different categories. They had to do the pitching, the hitting and the running. It was actually a competition for each division so hers was a 9-10U division. They hosted at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City,” Jennifer Kelly said. “So she won her division there and then we had to travel to Arlington, Texas. She had to compete against I think 5 other girls, so she won her region there for her scores and she got selected.”
Jennifer Kelly explained that Anna then went on to the National level competition and met girls from across the country that share her interest.
While being on a team, Anna has learned that each member brings an energy and spark to the team. “That goes through the whole team and it just really gets the mood up. Once you start getting that mood up, everything is good. Like everybody starts feeling better, hitting better just basically cheering each other on,” Anna said.
“Teamwork is what I like most about the sport, because we have people helping, such as cheering on the pitcher while they’re pitching.”
Although Anna’s team didn’t win, Jennifer Kelly shared that Anna did win the regional championship to get to the World Series.
“So the accomplishment was really a big accomplishment for her to make it to the top 3 in the country in the age category. So, she did really well,” Jennifer said.
When entering the World Series, Anna was nervous but when she got on the field that nervousness turned into excitement. Her favorite part of the competition was batting, but she enjoyed meeting and becoming friends with her team mates and with girls in the upper division.
“She connected with the older girls that were like 12 and 14, just because she’s getting older and so she made a couple of friends that were older than her but just seeing those older girls there I think motivates the younger girls to want to do better,” Jennifer explained.
Anna has been able to share her journey in interviews, including on television. Jennifer Kelly wanted to show that other Native girls in all age categories can try out to compete in this competition so that it can open doors for them as well. Even though Anna is from Okmulgee, Jennifer and Anna wanted to let them know that you can do anything you put your heart in.
“I didn’t get to experience these things at a young age but to be able to experience that at 10 years old and to be in the top 3 in the country at that age, means that’s an amazing accomplishment at that age. So I couldn’t be any prouder of her than we are,” Jennifer Kelly shared.
“We practice all the time. I think that hopefully next year other Mvskoke Creek girls will go and compete in all categories for that competition. There are a lot of very talented young athletes that could have made it, so hopefully next year other girls will go out and give it a shot and try their best to get there.”
Jennifer Kelly knows that representation matters, and from her perspective as a mother she feels her daughter Anna represented herself and her tribe well.
“I think she represented our tribe well. She was very friendly, kind and had good manners. She was really respectable to all the people that put on the pitch, hit and run competition. One of the ladies that does run the pitch, hit and run is Native American,” Jennifer Kelly said.
Both Jennifer Kelly and Anna are especially grateful to the Okmulgee Indian Community which donated funds to help with the trip.
