Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Hand-eye coordination. Dexterity. Finesse. Power.
For seven years, Dallas Millwood trained, and for eight years, she had the making of quite a future as a piano player. She turned it all in, though, to focus on another craft. Millwood is one of few returning Star-Advertiser All-State first-team softball selections. The Kamehameha senior is the grand leader on the diamond for a team that is heavy with underclassmen. Four key pitchers are freshmen or sophomores.
Maybe the nuances of playing piano don’t carry over to hitting a softball at high speeds. Millwood is an unabashed, constant communicator from her spot at first base.
“She’s like a coach on the field,” says her father, Warriors head coach James Millwood. “There’s no pressure on her from me. I still want her to go out and do what she does best. She’s usually the leader, a vocal leader who talks a lot communication-wise. I want her to be more vocal, helping them on the side in the dugout.”
All three of Dallas Millwood’s sisters played softball, including two who went on to play in college.
“She’s the most like me,” her dad said.
The piano lessons ended during middle school, but there is one song that still reverberates for her.
“I can play ‘Für Elise.’ That’s what my teacher gave me one day. That’s the only song I’ve learned by muscle memorization,” she said.
That would be a song that is part of one of the most iconic movies of all time.
“It’s the ‘Godfather’ song. I didn’t know. My dad just told me one day,” she said. “I haven’t seen the movie.”
The 2017 season was full of ups and a few downs for the Kamehameha Warriors. Injuries to the pitching staff were a major challenge, but Millwood still put together superhero numbers: .528 batting average, 29 RBIs, 22 runs scored, four home runs, a .609 on-base percentage and a .981 slugging average.
“Dallas is someone we will pitch around. She is a threat at every at-bat,” Maryknoll coach John Uekawa said.
Aside from Campbell catcher Jocelyn Alo’s preposterous 46 walks and .414 batting average, few surpassed Millwood at the plate in ’17. Maui shortstop Nawai Kaupe batted .535 with 11 homers, a .649 OBP and 1.357 slugging average. Leilehua outfielder Ashley Salausa racked up a .567 batting average with six homers, 19 RBIs, a .612 OBP and .983 slugging average.
Salausa and Millwood were teammates on the Guava Jam club team for years. Millwood signed her letter of intent with Nevada, where Salausa is now playing.
Guava Jam, run by a group of parents including James Millwood, began as an idea.
“It was just a bunch of us guys. Our girls were playing baseball, and we were talking about making a softball team,” he said.
Guava Jam has developed some of the state’s best softball players, and 2016 was the first time the club didn’t field a high-school level team, though the younger age groups are busy. Coach Millwood took a break once most of the players aged out. Dallas Millwood went to California to play in the summer with the OC (Orange County) Batbusters.
“We play one game a week for 12 weeks,” coach Millwood said of the local offseason league. “Up there, she played 21 games in 26 days. It’s opened up for the girls. They’re not afraid to travel across the country. There’s a school for everybody. You’ve just got to find the right fit. Hawaii girls are athletic and good with their hands. They do well.”
One of the trips the family made was when Dallas was 10 years old. The Guava Jam squad went to Reno for an up-close look at the campus. For the parents, including school teachers James and Arlette Millwood, it was never too early to expose the players to their potential academic future.
“I scheduled it with the softball coaches,” coach Millwood said. “I took two two Guava Jam teams there and they showed us the facilities.”
Since then, Dallas Millwood has become more aware that academics and athletics could intertwine.
“I think sports is something that helps me have better grades. It finally hit me my sophomore year,” said Millwood, who has a 3.3 grade-point average.
She turned down offers from Florida Gulf Coast, Iowa State, New Mexico State, UNLV and UTEP. The process was enlightening and, naturally, stressful. But now Millwood can give school and her team her undivided attention. Defending ILH champion Maryknoll has the inside track, thanks to a core of All-State returnees.
“Our pitching is getting there,” the first baseman said. “It’s not like my freshman year, when we had Kamalani Dung, but as the season progresses, the girls will get better and gain more confidence. With more experience, they’ll get better. As a team, I want us to win ILH champs. And then win states.”
In the meantime, Dallas — yes, her father is a devoted Cowboys fan — hits the books, hits the softball and hangs out with third baseman Maiah Motta, a third-team All-State selection. They’re practically neighbors, so when there’s free time, they make videos doing various challenges. Dal and Mai aren’t a viral sensation yet.
“We just do fun stuff. We did ‘Wheel of Dare’,” she said.
Her interest in psychology has stemmed from a class at Mililani titled PsychStory.
“It’s an English class. I got a deeper understanding of how the brain works. That class really made me want to go into psychology. We read both fiction and nonfiction, but the fiction was based on real people’s lives, like the ‘Elephant Man.’ “
Coach Millwood, who was Mililani’s football head coach for a long time, isn’t quite into the psychology and video games like his youngest child. But he does have a special bond with her.
“I guess when I played sports, I was vocal and kind of a coach on the field, very competitive. When I see her and my friends see her, they see her in me,” he said. “And she’s the biggest and looks the most haole like me.”
DALLAS MILLWOOD
>> Kamehameha softball
>> Senior
Q&A * FAVORITES
>> Athlete: Corey Seager “He’s the shortstop for the Dodgers. Just the way that he plays. He was the rookie of the year two years ago and he’s a really good hitter. He’s very consistent and very clutch for them right now.”
>> Team: Dallas Cowboys
>> Does this have anything to do with your name? “Yes, everything to do with it.”
>> Hobby outside of sports? “Making YouTube videos with Maiah (Motta, Kamehameha’s third baseman).”
>> Should people watch your videos? “Yeah. We just do fun stuff. Challenges. We did Wheel of Dare. You kind of spin a bottle and whatever it lands on you have to do the dare.”
>> GPA: 3.3 “I think sports is something that helps me have better grades.”
74
