From Logan Martin to the World Series
Story by Paul South
Submitted Photos
When it comes to Major League Baseball, St. Clair County has made more than a little imprint.
Springville’s Casey Mize, the former No. 1 overall pick in the draft, enjoyed a solid season in 2025 after missing a chunk of last season because of Tommy John surgery. This season, he helped the Detroit Tigers to the playoffs.
Todd Jones, former closing pitcher for the Tigers, was behind the mike as a broadcaster for Detroit. Jones has a home on Logan Martin Lake.
But when it came to activities around the 2025 World Series, there was another St. Clair footprint — specifically, size 2 in girls’ youth. It belongs to 8-year-old CaylacynSanford, who lives on Logan Martin in Pell City. For the second year in a row, she competed in the World Series in the 7-8 Division of Major League Baseball’s Pitch, Hit and Run competition. She earned the trip to Toronto to see Game 2 of the Series after winning local and regional honors in Atlanta to advance to win an all-expense paid trip to compete and to see the Blue Jays face the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The top five highest scores from all 30 team championships go to the Finals. Therefore, five softball and five baseball players from each age division get an all-expense trip to the World Series to compete in the finals. (40 athletes in all).
The World Series trip isn’t her only 2025 honor. In August, she was one of six players nationally to be named Major League Baseball Play Ball Player of the Month, which earned the opportunity for two more of her family members to attend the World Series.
The Sanfords had a bit of excitement even before traveling to the Fall Classic – a mad dash to the passport office in Atlanta after Toronto won the American League title.
“Thankfully, it all worked out,” her mother, Caycyn said.
Indeed it did. In the Pitch, Hit and Run competition, Caylacyn finished first in hitting, first in running and second overall in her age group,
The MLB Play Ball initiative is the league’s signature program when it comes to youth engagement in baseball and softball. The program promotes physical activity and encourages community and family. The program also helps to grow baseball and softball with events around the world.
“It’s a phenomenal program,” Caycyn said. “It has really helped Caylacyn’s confidence and given her opportunities she would have never been able to have.”
The POTM recipients were chosen based on athletic performance, positive attitude, teamwork, community involvement and embodying the Play Ball spirit. She was also interviewed on the MLB Network.
What makes Caylacyn’s showing all the more impressive is that this is only her second year of youth softball. Last fall, she played on a team with a classic name – Bat Attitude. This fall, she played for a travel team, Shelby Steel. In the spring, it was Aces of Bases.
She began her sports journey competing in cheerleading and gymnastics. But after taking up softball at her Dad Derek’s suggestion, she was hooked.
“We didn’t know how she would be skill-wise,” Caycyn said. “We just thought it would be a fun game for her. She ended up really taking to it and enjoying it. We even stopped cheer and gymnastics. She’s really focused on softball these days.”
And as far as ability, the kid has mad skills with a disciplined swing usually seen in older, more experienced players. It’s a product of daily practice, sometimes on her own.
“It’s definitely a gift that God has given her,” Caycyn said. “It surprised us as her parents, just how quickly she’s picked up the game. The Lord really has blessed her with athletic ability. We were surprised that it was softball (where she excelled) because I never played softball. It’s something different for us. But when she started playing last year, we could see that it was something she was good at and excelled at.”
Derek didn’t play competitive ball either. But he and others have noticed his daughter’s ability to swing the bat.
“People have commented and said, ‘Wow, she’s got a pretty swing,’” he said. Caycyn and Derek have worked with her on her skills. At the World Series, Caylacyn met USA Olympian, Jennie Finch, who also complimented Caylacyn’s swing.
Caylacyn’s success is no surprise to her Dad. “We kind of had a feeling she’d have a knack for it,” he said. And of her back-to-back trips to the World Series? “It’s a pretty unheard-of success for a 7- and 8-year-old to do it twice.”
Diamonds and dolls
When it comes to sports, the softball diamond may be this 8-year-old’s best friend, but Caylacyn is still every bit a little girl, who loves playing with Barbie dolls and Lego blocks and her little sisters, Kenlee and Kellesa. She’s known to put her favorite toys – her “stuffies” she calls them – on the fence by her team’s dugout during games, all while she’s turning double plays and hitting grand slams.
And it’s important to note, Caylacyn experienced a more lasting victory in 2025 – one of an eternal nature. She came to faith in Christ. The family attends Northside Fellowship.
As Crash Davis, the fictional character played by Kevin Costner, noted in the movie, Bull Durham, baseball is a simple game. “You throw the ball; you catch the ball. You hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains.”
Caylacyn seems to have a similar understanding of softball and why she fell in love with the game. “It’s competitive. You get to play with your friends, and you hit,” she said.
For Caycyn and Derek, all of this World Series stuff may have come as a surprise. “What are the odds?,” Caycyn asks. But they want folks to know something more about their daughter.
“We’re just proud, especially of her being humble and her being coachable,” Derek said. “That’s something all of her coaches say about her. We’re super proud that she’s willing to learn while still being humble,” he added.
“She’s a good kid,” Caycyn said. “Softball is just something she does for fun. It doesn’t define who she is. We’re thankful that God has given her this ability. But as her parents, we find more joy in seeing her picking up her teammates when somebody makes a bad play or strikes out. She’s one of the first ones out there to encourage them. She tries her best. But it’s something from within. Being a leader. Being a good friend.”
She added, “She’s more than softball.”
