Mission girl plays under big league lights

Autumn Porter had never been to a Major League Baseball game before June 23, but her experience at one that day was one she will never forget.

The 11-year old from St. Ignatius competed in the MLB Pitch, Hit & Run team championship at Safeco Field in Seattle following the Seattle Mariners game that afternoon.

“I was really nervous before I went out on the field, but once I got out there I realized that it wasn’t that bad because there weren’t that many people there,” Autumn said. “When the game was almost over I was getting butterflies in my stomach. The biggest [stadium] I’ve ever been in is the Missoula Osprey’s stadium.”

With the competition taking place after the game, only a fraction of the 22,813 people at the Sunday afternoon game stayed to watch despite the game’s thrilling finish—a Kendrys Morales walk-off homer won it for Seattle in the 10th inning.

Autumn finished second at the regional competition and failed to make the national competition, which will be held at the MLB All-Star Game in New York in early July. She was, however, one of only two Montana contestants to make the team championship in Seattle.

“It was quite an experience just to see them out on the field,” said Holly Porter, Autumn’s mother. “A little nerve-racking but it was pretty cool.”

“Team championship” is a bit of a misleading title, referring to the 30 Major League teams that host the regional events rather than the competitors. The Pitch, Hit & Run is an entirely individual event, consisting of six throws at a target, three swings on a tee, and a timed sprint from second base to home plate. The competitors’ scores are then tabulated and the top scorers move onward in the competition.

Holly Porter organized the local competition in St. Ignatius to which she invited the town’s youth league baseball and softball teams as well as those from Ronan and Charlo. Autumn won the all-around, pitch, and run competitions on the local level for her age group. Her sister Arena, 12, won the hitting competition.

By virtue of winning their sections, Autumn and Arena qualified for the sectional competition in Helena, which included the entire state and part of Canada as well, according to Holly Porter.

Autumn proceeded to win the all-around in the 11-12 year old age group in the capital city as well, and her scores were high enough to qualify her for the Seattle competition, which included free tickets to the Mariners game for her and her family, plus a chance to be introduced on the field before the game that afternoon and compete on the field afterward.

Autumn is a standout for the 12-U Lady Osprey, a travel softball team out of Missoula.

She said would love to compete in the Pitch, Hit & Run again next year at Safeco Field, “if I can make it that far again.”