Step aside, Shohei Ohtani. There’s a new two-way star emerging at this year’s Little League Baseball World Series … and her name is Kinley Rasmus.
The 12-year-old has played two games in South Williamsport, Pa., over the last four days for Phenix City, Ala., and she has already made an impact on the mound and at the plate.
The daughter of former major leaguer Cory Rasmus — her uncle, Colby Rasmus, also played 10 years in the majors — first took the mound for the Southeast representatives against the team from Tacoma, Wash., on Wednesday. In doing so, she became the 25th girl to play in the 79-year history of the LLBWS and the ninth to pitch in the competition.
Kinley dominated, striking out eight and allowing one hit over 81 pitches and six shutout innings. The performance made her the first girl to notch eight strikeouts in an LLBWS game since Mo’ne Davis in 2014. But tournament rules mandated she be pulled after the sixth inning, and Tacoma took advantage in the seventh to secure two runs and a 2-0 victory in extra innings.
With Phenix City playing for its tournament life against the West team from Bonita, Calif., on Saturday night, Rasmus responded again. This time, she showed her bat was just as dangerous as her right arm, going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI triple that bounced off the left-field fence to put her team up 4-1 in the bottom of the third inning.
Phenix City cruised to a 12-2 mercy-rule victory that extended its tournament and set up a game against the Mid-Atlantic representatives from West Chester, Pa., on Monday. Rasmus became the fifth girl to record multiple hits in the tournament.
Rasmus isn’t the first member of her family to make LLBWS history. Her father and uncle played on the 1999 Phenix City team that won the Southeast Region and reached the LLBWS final against the eventual champions from Japan. The future major leaguers were coached by their father, Tony, who played parts of three seasons in the minor leagues. Case, the younger brother of Cory and Colby, was not old enough to play on that team.
Now, Case, who played four years in the minors, is managing Phenix City, with Cory coaching alongside him. Case’s son Ryker plays first base and pitches for the team, and together with Kinley, the family helped lead Phenix City to its first LLBWS appearance since 1999.
Kinley threw a complete-game shutout in the win that clinched the Southeast Region. After the victory, she credited her strong curveball to her father, who pitched 84 games in the majors for the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels. And the Southeast team even adopted the motto “Fear the Bow” in honor of the white bow Kinley wears in her hair during games.
“When I hear people say that, it just brings joy to me,” she said, per the New York Post. “Knowing that they’ve got my back and everything I do on the field and it just gives me so much excitement.”
The Rasmus brothers are not the only star athletes related to Kinley. Her mother, Jill, played softball for the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, and Jill’s brother, Jeff Mathis, played 17 years in the majors.