Colonials pick Miller, Over
Kassie Miller is Albert Gallatin's spring sports female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Dylen Over is Albert Gallatin's spring sports male selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Albert Gallatin is undergoing some kind of renaissance in softball and baseball this spring and Kassie Miller and Dylen Over find themselves right in the middle of it all.
And loving every second of it.
Miller, who sports a 4.25 GPA, is a daughter of Bobbi Jo and Jeff Miller of Smithfield. She has a younger sister, sixth-grader Kameron. Over, son of Dawn and Jason Over of Fairchance, maintains a 3.6 GPA and has a younger brother, eighth-grader Wesley.
Miller is a centerfielder on the Albert Gallatin softball team that is off to an 11-3 start. The Lady Colonials’ 9-1 win over Trinity Tuesday topped their victory total for the last two seasons combined.
“We are playing really well so far this season,” Miller said. “It is really exciting. I knew we had a pretty good bunch of girls and I was really excited for this season.”
And Miller has perhaps the best seat in the house. As the starting centerfielder, she can see the magic the Lady Colonials bring to the field on every play.
“I know the game pretty well and I’ve always been told that I am pretty fast, so centerfield is kind of a natural position for me.”
She plans to study nursing at Waynesburg University, but has no plans to play softball for the Yellow Jackets.
“I plan to just focus on my academics,” she said.
My family owns the nursery house and flower shop right down the road, so that’s what we all do,” she said. “It is called Miller’s Greenhouse and Flower Shop.”
Her father has had the greatest influence on her as an athlete.
“My dad has always influenced me to play as many sports as I could, then he always tells me to keep a good attitude. He has faith in me.”
“AG has always been known as like a losing school, we don’t do very well in a lot of our sports, so it was kind of a struggle playing every game, then losing,” she said. “Now that we are finally winning, it is very exciting just to be at the games. The team is really pumped up. It is so much better.”
Over is the first baseman on the AG baseball that started the season at 4-1.
“We’re in a bit of a slump now, but we’ll figure it out,” Over said. The team got back to .500 with a non-section win last week and bettered that with a Section 3-AAAAA win over McKeesport on Monday.
Even before Tuesday’s 4-3 win at home over Laurel Highlands, Over believed the Colonials could keep this good thing going and qualify for the Class AAAAA playoffs.
“Playoffs are definitely a possibility,” he said. “Right now, I know it doesn’t look good to some people, but I know we can figure it out, we can bounce back. We can definitely make it to the playoffs if we play like we know how and play like a team.”
After the baseball season, Over will turn his attention toward college and a potential career in nursing.
“I am just weighing my options,” he said. “Nursing is a great field, plenty of benefits, the money’s good, but I think I’d like it because it is interacting with people, helping people. It is not the same thing all of the time, there are different challenges. It is a lot of things I can see myself being good at.”
His parents have had the most influence on Over as an athlete.
“They have always been there,” he said. “If I had a bad game, they would tell me what I did wrong and back me up with lots of support.”
Speaking of support, both Over and Miller were quite honored to be selected for this honor. Over put his feelings into words.
“It’s a great feeling. I never would have expected that I would get this,” Over said. “Our baseball team is filled with athletes and there are a lot of track athletes and other guys that I know who work just as hard as I do. It could have been any one of them. I never would have thought I’d get picked for this. It’s just awesome, a great feeling. All of the hard work has paid off.”