For 50 years, Major League Baseball (MLB) has sponsored Pitch, Hit & Run.  While I had heard about this free event, Richard and I never paid attention to its details as the children in our lives were not playing ball.  However, that changed this fall when we learned that our great-great-niece was to compete in Milwaukee.  Ava was one of forty finalists from around North America who made it to American Family Field after qualifying locally and then regionally in the 9–10-year-old softball division.  This year’s Pitch, Hit & Run competitors were announced on the World Series field in pre-game festivities and attended the Brewer’s winning game 2. 

While Fox programming was scheduled to broadcast both Game 2 of the World Series and the pre-game festivities, a college football game ran so long that we missed seeing Ava walk unto the MLB big-league field. We did view the Sunday morning competition for softball and baseball players ages 7 to 14 and even glimpsed our niece on screen several times.

The juvenile athletes are tested on the accuracy of their pitching, the distance they can hit a ball off a tee, and how quickly they can run. Ava’s scores placed her third in the 9–10-year-old softball division.

Congrats, Eva!

Graphic credit:  © MLB Pitch, Hit & Run Instagram post 2026