Mark WiedmerMadison Hayes doesn't play tennis, at least not competitively. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't be more than happy to duplicate this past weekend's repeat singles championship winners at Wimbledon - Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams -when she attempts to win back-to-back Pitch, Hit and Run competitions as part of All-Star Game festivities today at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park.
"Last year, I was very nervous," said the 13-year-old Hayes, who's competing in the 14-under girls division after winning the 12-under category last year in Minneapolis. "Now I know I can do this."
Hayes does pretty much everything on an athletic field when it comes to team sports. A rising eighth-grader at East Hamilton, she's expected to make either the high school varsity or junior varsity teams in basketball, softball, track and field and volleyball.
Not that starring for the Hurricanes is her ultimate goal.
"My dream is to one day play basketball at the University of North Carolina," she said.
But first she hopes to post high enough scores in today's Pitch, Hit and Run finals to cart home another 2 1/2-foot tall trophy to perfectly complement last year's hardware.
"I've probably practiced 10 or 15 hours to get ready for this," she said last week. "The competition gets harder as you get older."
Perhaps, but after she reportedly squeaked into the finals during last year's regional competition at Turner Field in Atlanta, she supposedly rolled through this year's regional at The Ted, despite competing against girls who are a year older than her.
"I know I scored higher than last year, at least that's what we were told," said Hayes, though the official scores of the finalists' results in pitching, hitting and running are never released. "I do think I was more confident. I already felt like I was going to win. But it's still a big accomplishment to get back to the nationals. I just hope I make another bunch of new friends, like I did last year."
The competition basically consists of the following skills:
A) Each competitor gets three swings at either a baseball or softball placed on a tee. They're hitting for both distance and accuracy, attempting to place each of three swings as close to a tape running into the outfield as possible.
B) The throwing portion of the format consists of six tosses toward a target. Girls are allowed to throw softballs either overhanded or underhanded. The right-handed Hayes chose to go overhanded.
C) Finally, each participant is timed on a run from second base to home.
"I was so nervous at the All-Star Game," Hayes said, recalling last year's finals. "There was a lot of media behind home plate, a lot of them shooting pictures and stuff. And there were a few All-Star players standing there, too."
But she handled it all well enough to win the 12-under girls division, then went out and fielded fly balls during the Home Run Derby. She even traded waves with since-retired New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter in his final All-Star appearance.
"He waved at me, I waved back," Hayes recalled. "I walked away happy."
What won't make her happy this time around is Anaheim Angels star Mike Trout deciding not to participate in the Home Run Derby.
"I want to meet Mike Trout," she said last week, before Trout officially pulled out of the Home Run Derby. "Maybe get his autograph."
Autograph or not, Major League Baseball makes sure all the kids who reach the finals get a bundle of souvenirs, especially from their hometown team, which is the Atlanta Braves in Madison's case.
"Each child who's a participant gets this gigantic travel bag filled with all sorts of gifts," said Madison's mother Greta as she recalled all the souvenirs her daughter received. "She even got a T-shirt that was signed by all the USA Softball players."
It all sounds like enough to overwhelm even the most well-grounded of young people. Yet while Hayes is certainly not your ordinary 13-year-old athlete, she's managed to remain an honor roll student with an eye toward one day becoming an engineer.
Perhaps just as important, Hayes has at least one goal to accomplish in Cincinnati that has nothing to do with sports.
Referencing one of the Midwest's grandest amusement parks, she said, "I want to go to Kings Island while I'm there."
Because no matter what else you may accomplish more than once in life, childhoods are something that can never be repeated.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com