Freshman Maddie Milhorn has made an instant impact on the Skyview softball team, and that comes as no surprise to coach Kim Anthony.
“She has been coming to my summer camps when she was little,” Anthony said. “So when people come up to me and say ‘Did you know this girl was coming?’ I tell them I’ve been waiting for her since she was 10.”
In her first week with the Storm, Milhorn gave up just two earned runs in 17 innings with 31 strikeouts. She also went 5 for 8 at the plate with a home run and three RBI.
And at 5-foot-11, she doesn’t look much like a freshman.
“Three years ago, I saw someone pitching on the field,” Anthony said. “And I thought ‘is there a college pitcher home working out on our field?’ And then I see it’s Maddie, and she was like in the seventh grade.
“She has a big presence in the box and in the circle. But she is really humble and quiet. She just comes to do her job. She’s a fun one.”
And Milhorn is part of a talented freshmen class that has fit right in with the Storm, who are off to a 4-0 start this season.
“We should definitely shout out the freshmen,” senior Kya Jenkins said. “They’re pretty awesome, and they’re especially comfortable with us, which I think is going to help us.”
Anthony added: “It is a good mix. We’re strong young, and we’re strong old, and they’re just really jelling well. And our older players have a lot of confidence in the younger players.”
The Storm have taken advantage of loosening COVID restrictions to do team bonding activities that weren’t available to them last season.
“We’ve definitely been going out and having team dinners, getting fo-yo and ice cream, which has been great,” Jenkins said. “And we’ve been able to get outside and practice, but also inside in the gym, which is nice because that’s something we didn’t get to do last year.”
The Storm opened the 2022 season with a 6-2 win last week over Battle Ground, which was coming off a 16-0 season in 2021.
“It was nice to get that one out of the way,” senior Skylar Groesbeck said. “Battle Ground has definitely been our toughest competition for our four years here. We battled. We fought hard. We knew what to expect. We knew they were extremely talented. So we just prepped for that, and we played our game. We did what we needed to do and we did well.”
Anthony said she had a different approach to coaching last season. She tried to find a balance between winning every game and providing opportunities to as many players as possible.
That philosophy is paying off this season as the Storm have tremendous depth.
“I’m still trying to do that because you never know when you might need someone to step up,” Anthony said. “So I like to get people in when I can. We’re really strong. Every game, we’ve had a different starting lineup for four games.”
Anthony hopes that depth can provide a repeat of the 2019 postseason — the last true postseason any of the Storm have experienced — when Skyview hit 17 home runs over two days at the bi-district tournament to advance to state.
“In 30, 40 years of softball, I’ve never had that happen,” Anthony said. “It was the most magical weekend of softball. I would put in a sub to pinch-hit, and she’d hit a home run.”
Groesbeck said it’s weird to think the last time she got to play at state was her freshman year.
“It is weird, but I also think it’s really exciting,” Groesbeck said. “I definitely think we have a shot to go to state this year. … And Battle Ground, too. Our freshman year, us, Battle Ground and Camas all went. It’s nice having people we know up at state.”
