Phillies' ballgirl makes great grab

It's hard not to root for one of your own.

While last night's four-run, ninth-inning come-from-behind win over the Brewers was something magical for the Phillies, here at Interstate General Media, the folks might just be more excited about the highlight-worthy play Genevieve Haney, a consumer marketing manager for IGM, pulled off at the game.

Haney spends her nights doubling as a Phillies' ballgirl, and in last night's game she made a snag (see video below) that landed her on SportsCenter's Top-10 plays.

In the top of the seventh inning, Brewers' outfielder Carlos Gomez smoked a line drive down the left-field line. With lightning-quick reaction time, Haney pounced off her stool to make the backhand grab.

"It was funny because right before that there was a ball that went to a fan. They show it on the Comcast clip where the guy caught it, and I made a joke — I said, 'I let you get that one.'

"It was a really sharp foul ball that was kind of leveling off, and for safety purposes — like I had a little girl next to me as well," Haney said. "A lot of the times we'll let the fans get those kind of balls, but since it was a scorcher down the line, I wanted to make sure I got it for protection purposes."

Haney's no stranger to working the glove. She played third base at Division I Hofstra University from 2004 to 2008, where her class won a school-record 166 games. And while she made the grab look effortless, being a Phillies' ballgirl is no easy task.

Last fall, while Haney was working in marketing for Villanova, she decided to tryout to become a ballgirl. The Phillies require a two-minute submission video, and Haney went with a comical approach.

"I incorporated Jay Wright into my video on why I wanted to be a ballgirl," she said. "I had him throwing basketballs at me, and I was catching them left and right, and [Head football coach Andy Talley] was throwing footballs."

Haney was selected as one of 100 girls to go to Citizens Bank Park for a tryout, which consisted of fielding, hitting, an on-camera interview and a written exam to test their baseball knowledge. From there, she was chosen as one of 15 current ballgirls.

But being on the field is only about 20 percent of what ballgirls do in their roles, Haney said. Along with working about three games per year, the girls also participate in the Red Goes Green recycling program and other charity events.

Haney said all the hard work of playing ball when she was younger has paid off.

"Especially for a girl, it's your dream since we don't have the professional sports," she said. "We like to be role models for the younger girls to let them know there are things that you can do — you can work in athletics when you graduate from college."