Aurora Central Catholic's Corina Miller wears sunflower in her hair. For her grandfather. ‘It's my superstition.'

Chicago Tribune

14-05-2025

Junior right-hander Corina Miller finds herself in good company these days as Aurora Central Catholic tunes up for the Class 2A playoffs that are looming next week.
Hard work as a dedicated student of the game has put the ace pitcher in this spot, possibly with an assist from her very own flower power — a lucky sunflower she sports in her hair each game.
More on that later.
'She's a real bulldog,' Chargers coach Mark Pasqualini said of the 5-foot-3 Miller. 'She does a good job when she's locating her pitches well. She's not going to strike everybody out, but she gets the pop-ups, gets hitters to reach on the change-ups.
'She gets the batters out, doing what she needs to do. As long as we play a little bit of defense behind her, we're in good shape.'
Struggling with that change-up in the first inning Tuesday, Miller got it under control in her three innings of work during a 17-5 nonconference victory over host Geneva that took only five innings.
Miller (15-2) was supported by a 15-hit attack for ACC (22-8) that featured seven doubles. She's tied for the program's single-season record for wins with Dani Brown, who had 15 in 2019.
The Chargers led 3-2 after one inning before erupting for eight runs in the third.
'My change-up has been pretty good all year, but in the first, I didn't have it,' Miller said. 'I threw two in the dirt. I went into the dugout, figured it out, went back out there and everything was fine.'
First baseman Charlotte Brummel and designated player Ashley Moore, both seniors, produced two doubles apiece for ACC. Brummel finished with four hits and Moore totaled six RBIs.
Sophomore relief pitcher Kylie Gates hit a three-run homer in the fourth for Geneva (7-18).
Pasqualini said he prepares scouting reports for his team but Miller takes it a step further, doing her own homework to prepare for opponents.
'I basically go online and see if I can find highlight videos of them hitting to prepare how to throw to each batter,' Miller said. 'I like to stalk and look them up.'
Take Geneva, for example.
'Their No. 5 hitter has 11 home runs,' Pasqualini said of sophomore catcher Clara Lyons. 'We had a plan, not wanting to leaving anything out over the plate that she can hit 250 to dead center, so we stayed tight on her hands and managed to get the outs we needed.'
The Chargers wrap up the regular season Thursday at Kaneland before opening the postseason on Wednesday, May 21 against Winnebago in the Class 2A Marengo Regional.
'I like that we're a small school and we can survive with some of these teams,' Miller said. 'I really like pitching against the bigger schools, seeing how I match up against them.
'I feel like we can beat anybody if we put it all out on the field.'
This spring, ACC has wins over bigger schools that include Metea Valley, Providence, Joliet West, Lyons, West Aurora and Waubonsie Valley.
And the flower?
'It's my superstition,' Miller said.
She wears it to honor her maternal grandfather, Mike Waldsmith, a longtime baseball umpire in Aurora who died in 2016 after retiring to Florida.
There, he became a fan of the Florida softball team that won national titles in 2014 and 2015 and regularly sported sunflowers in their hair since 2009, when they started having a pediatric cancer patient become an honorary member of the team for each season.
'I wear a sunflower in my hair for him every game,' she said. 'I haven't played a game without it.'
Last winter, Miller committed to NCAA Division III Illinois College in Jacksonville. She was recruited by assistant Kiwi Moran, a New Lenox native who was previously an assistant with Miller's Chicago Cheetahs travel team.
Miller would take the ball every game if he let her, according to Pasqalini.
'I feel like when I pitch more, my performance is better,' she said. 'I just like having the ball in my hand.'