LLWS star Kinley Rasmus' next challenge? Playing for the nation's top flag football team
· Yahoo Sports
PHENIX CITY, Ala. — If you've been keeping up with the Little League World Series, then surely you have heard the name Kinley Rasmus.
One of two girls playing in this year's LLWS, Rasmus first made headlines when she pitched a complete game shutout over Tennessee to secure the Southeast Regional and send her Phenix City team to Williamsport for the first time in 27 years.
Visit mwafrika.life for more information.
And once she arrived to a national stage, she still wasn't fazed.
The daughter of former MLB pitcher Cory Rasmus, she pitched six shutout innings against Washington with eight strikeouts, tying Mo'ne Davis' record from 2014 for the most strikeouts in a game by a girl at the Little League World Series.
Her performance in Williamsport so far is enough of a reason to prove her dominance in the diamond. However, you might not know that she's just as much of a superstar on the football field.
Rasmus, who is in 7th grade, is not just on any high school flag football team, but she's a starter for USA TODAY Sports' preseason national No. 1 team Central-Phenix City. The Red Devils have won 58-straight games, with their last loss dating back to November 2022.
“It didn’t take long to realize there’s nothing she can’t do,” said Mitchell Holt, head coach of Central’s flag football and softball teams. “She would do drills with those kids who were five, six, seven years older than her and she would hang with them.
I don’t think it fazes her.”
Rasmus has spent the past two seasons as a manager for Central's flag football and softball teams with the goal of one day competing right alongside them. Holt would often let her practice with the girls, which is when the rest of the team took notice of her talent.
“A couple of years ago when she was 11, the girls just knew her as the manager and didn’t know what grade she was in," Holt said. "I told [Kinley], ‘Please don’t tell them how old you are.’ She said, ‘Why not?’ And I said, ‘I don’t want these 18 year olds to know they’re going against an 11 year old who is getting the better of them.'”
Her teammates, however, have been waiting for the day where Rasmus can put her talent in action.
“It’s finally time,” said Savannah Sevier, USA TODAY Sports' First Team All-America receiver. “I’m excited that she can play this year because we’ve seen how talented she was since fifth grade.”
While in Williamsport, she missed Centrals' season-opening 38-0 win over Montgomery Catholic, meaning her varsity debut will have to wait a bit longer.
“She texted us earlier and told us that she’s sad that she can’t be here,” Holt said before the game. “I just told her that we will be happy to have her back, but what she’s doing is once in every generation. People dream all the time about being in the Little League World Series. I told her flag will be here when she gets back, so keep making us proud.”
And when she comes back, she'll be a key starter on both sides of the ball. She also takes reps at quarterback alongside 8th grader Collins Culligan and behind starter Deeana Amos.
While she might not get snaps at quarterback quite yet, her pitching talent is a sneak peak into what she has to offer.
During Southwest's opening game in Williamsport, she had 81 pitches through six scoreless innings, although the team eventually lost 2-0. Her flag football team got to watch that performance together, as they projected the game on a big screen at their afternoon workouts.
The last time Phenix City made it to the Little League World Series, Rasmus was once again the headlining name. Her father, Cory, and her uncle, Colby, led the team to become 1999 Little League World Series champions alongside their coach and dad, Tony.
Now, the roles are reversed, as Cory and Colby are now coaching Kinley's team to success in Williamsport.
When they get home, however, all eyes will turn to Kinley's flag football and softball careers.
“[Her parents] were excited about Williamsport, but they were excited about flag,” Holt said. “They love sports and they are a sports family so anytime their kids get the chance to go out and compete at a high level, it’s embraced and encouraged.”
For now, though, Rasmus' feet are in Williamsport, where her Southeast team will take on the West Region on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 7 p.m. ET.
“She’s carrying that torch for all the little girls that are younger than her that want to be like her,” Holt said. “There are a lot of kids watching Kinley this week that think they can do that, and they absolutely can.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LLWS star Kinley Rasmus' next challenge? Playing for the nation's top flag football team