Nevada girl set to make Little League World Series history. What's next?

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PA – When a reporter reached out for an interview, Carsynn Meyer was with Kinley Rasmus.

"They were just playing ping-pong when I pulled her away," Carsynn’s mom, Tiffany, said.

Think about that visual for a moment. Meyer and Rasmus represent the fourth pair of girls who have played in the same Little League World Series.

They are two of 26 girls to ever play in this annual tournament for 12-year-olds in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania.

Rasmus, of Phenix City, Alabama, made LLWS history on the mound and at the plate over five games here. Meyer, of Henderson, Nevada, is poised to become the first girl to play in the event’s American championship when her team faces (Hamilton) Ohio on Saturday, Aug. 29.

“I get asked the question a lot: 'How does that impact your softball?' Little League CEO Patrick Wilson told USA TODAY Sports. "And are you promoting girls playing baseball? We want girls to choose."

Since the tournament's Aug. 19 start, little girls in the stands have made a choice, too. They have shown up wearing white bows emulating the one Rasmus wears, bringing signs that display "Fear the bow," a phrase that's also showing up on T-shirts.

Meyer, an outfielder, says she has conducted interview after interview (“I don't know the number, but a lot”) and been sought after by other girls for autographs and pictures.

“You get kind of swarmed,” Tiffany Meyer said.

Both have rocketed balls off their bats and stirred the imaginations of scores of others, who will have more confirmation of their dreams when they see Meyer on the field in front of a large Lamade Stadium crowd.

What comes next?

Perhaps the result of what can happen when more of us open our minds to possibility within youth sports, especially for girls in this traditionally, and sometimes stubbornly, male sport.

“She’s got a chance to be as big as Shohei Ohtani (for girls baseball),” Case Rasmus, manager of the Phenix City team said earlier in the tournament about his niece, Kinley. “She’s earned every bit of all that she gets. …

“The most perfect player you can ask for. She gets after it. She’s a dog. She’s tough as nails. And she wants to inspire anybody, everybody. She's an incredible human being."

Both Rasmus and Meyer had family members who helped open the possibility to playing baseball. Rasmus’ father (Cory) and uncle (Colby) played in the major leagues. She was swinging off a batting tee at age 3 while wearing diapers, according to her mother, Jill, a former softball player at Southern Miss.

“I know she's wanted to be out here for a long time,” her mother told ESPN’s Jess Sims this week while watching her daughter play in Williamsport.

Meyer, her mother Tiffany said, grew to love the game around her older brother, Cade, now 15. She started playing formally around age 8 and, two months ago, found herself playing in the all-girls baseball Maria Pepe Legacy Series in South Williamsport.

The series, named after the Little League girls baseball pioneer, is part of what Little League dubs the “Girls with Game experience.” Meyer and other girls were hosted at the LLWS complex, and they played on the field at Lamade.

She says it wasn’t busy, much quieter than being among the thousands who have watched her play at Lamade over the course of the Little League World Series.

“Playing in front of all those people, it’s something I’ve never done, and it's awesome,” she said.

During her second game, Meyer stepped to the plate and lined an RBI single up the middle against (Tacoma) Washington.

She smiled and exalted from first base, allowing the moment to sink in.

“I don't really have words to describe it,” she said. “I was just so excited. I didn't really care if I got hit or not … I just wanted the team to do well. I'm really excited that we're in the championship.”

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Rasmus hit .455 over five LLWS games and threw 10 2/3 scoreless innings. Her five hits and 14 strikeouts tied the most by a girl at this tournament, the latter equaling Mo’ne Davis’ famous record.

“She’s a trailblazer,” said her coach and uncle, Case Rasmus. “The future is incredibly bright for her. It’s gonna be fun to keep up with her journey and see where it takes her. … It helps in so many ways that she’s not afraid of the big lights.”

Earlier this week, Case Rasmus walked out to the mound in an elimination game against (West Chester) Pennsylvania. His team was down 5-0. During the Little League World Series, coaches are mic’d up by ESPN, and the coach played for the camera.

“Thank God we got Kinley Rasmus,” he said.

She came into the game, promptly caught a line drive and threw to first base for a quick double play to end the inning.

Wilson, Little League’s CEO, says we can use this moment with Rasmus and Meyer thriving in the World Series spotlight to inspire other girls to play baseball for as long as they want.

“We don't want to pigeonhole them, even though we're going strong on our softball program,” he said. “We feel that young girls should have the opportunity to choose whether they want to play baseball or have the opportunity to play in our softball program. We hear it a lot in the softball space: If you can see it, you can be it. … Girls (can) say, 'I want to play baseball, even if it's only through my 12-year old year.' Or beyond. Girls can compete and play baseball right alongside boys."

ESPN commentator Jessica Mendoza, a former Olympic gold and silver medalist at softball, had an opportunity last year to meet with the 2025 Little League softball champions from Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

She told the girls to believe in what makes them good as players and special as students and daughters, and to always have a balance of humility and confidence.

During a broadcast this week, Mendoza lamented about how she might have enjoyed a chance to try baseball, too.

Medoza spoke with Meyer and Rasmus together this week about how much they enjoy thriving at the sport. Meyer said the two girls talk a lot now. She recalled one occasion where they sat on a couch and chatted about their experiences here and their lives back home.

They both like flag football, another sport that is growing with opportunities for girls in high school and college.

During an interview with USA TODAY Sports before her Little League World Series games started, Meyer said her plan was to finish playing baseball this year and perhaps transition to softball. She said Thursday she wants to keep playing baseball.

She might mix it with playing softball, at least through her eighth-grade year, which she is starting now.

And why not?

“I’m  proud of all of it,” Tiffany Meyer said about how the Little League World Series has transpired. “We've been gone a long time, and she's handled it very well being with the boys a lot, just showing up at these games and grinding it out. And, you know, it's not always easy being the only girl, and sometimes the attention isn't always received well by other people, but it is what it is. She's one of 26.”

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He played baseball in high school, rowed in college and spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents to a college and high school baseball player. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nevada girl set to make Little League World Series history. What's next?