Record-breaker Mains slugs four homers in one game

By Rebecca Pierson
Assistant Sports Editor
rpierson@starhq.com

   Some people have to practice and train to get athletic ability...and some people are just born with it.
   Young Kelsey Mains posted another record this year when she hit four home runs -- each an-inside-the-park job -- in one game in the Elizabethton/Carter County Boys & Girls Club pee-wee league. She has hit 10 for the season for the Elizabethton Fitness Center Angels.
   "I want to hit one over the fence," she said. "I really like playing first base."
   Not only has she been playing ball as long as she can remember, she is a third-generation ball player. She is the granddaughter of Harold and Anita Mains, and the daughter of Mike and Renee Mains.
   The 11-year-old made history in the league in the summer of 2000 while still playing tee-ball, but back then it was a defensive record. She recorded the first unassisted triple play in the league.
   Kelsey was with the White Sox back then, playing pitcher when in the last inning her team was ahead by only one run. She caught a fly out at the mound, ran to her right and tagged third, then went over and tagged second to end the game.
   "We started working with her when she was about two or three," said Kelsey's grandfather and head coach, Harold Mains. "Of course her daddy was all-state in South Carolina. Fortunately, we have had the opportunity to coach her from day one, tee-ball all the way up.
   "Her position for us is first because she can catch the ball. I think she can go on and play to the next level at second base. If she was playing for me in junior high, I would use her as a second baseman."
   She also plays basketball and does gymnastics in the off-season.
   By Kelsey isn't the type of kid who is just good at sports. She is a honor-roll student at T.A. Dugger, where she will go into the seventh grade this fall. Her favorite subject is science, but she said she really enjoys her shop class, too.
   Of course Kelsey spends a lot of time at Joe O'Brien field watching the Twins play, but she is also a big fan of Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves. Her nickname in tee-ball was Chipper and she also has a dog named Chipper.
   It is plain to see that this is one player high school coaches in the area should keep an eye out for in the years to come. The little 'Chipper' may be one that is hard to beat.