Little Leaguer pitched Perfect Game

[Soxy]

Wow!!!!!

 

Shy Smile. Mean Fastball.

 

By THOMAS J. LUECK and BEN BEAGLE

Published: May 19, 2005

 

As the only girl in her upstate Little League, 11-year-old Katie Brownell had already made her mark. An all-star since she was 9, Katie plays hardball better than almost any boy her age in Oakfield, Alabama, Elba and Pembroke, her home turf of farm towns between Rochester and Buffalo.

Enlarge This Image

Max Schulte for The New York Times

 

Katie Brownell, 11 years old and 5-foot-8, threw a perfect game on Saturday in Little League action in Oakfield, N.Y.

 

But nobody expected what happened on Saturday. Katie pitched a perfect game.

 

"She's very bashful, but very talented," said Jeff Sage, a Rochester firefighter and the manager of Katie's team, the Dodgers. Her pitching on Saturday mowed down the opposing Yankees in an 11-0 shutout before a stunned crowd of about 100 parents and friends in the bleachers of the Oakfield Town Park.

 

"I can't imagine being a boy that has to face her at the plate," said Eric Klotzbach, an engineer and the president of Katie's seven-team league in Genesee County. "It has got be a shot to the ego."

 

News of Katie's achievement, lacking some of the urgency of a major-league feat, was first spread yesterday morning in an article on the front page of the sports section of the closest daily newspaper, The Daily News of Batavia. But by afternoon, when she returned home from her sixth-grade classes, Katie was in an unexpected - and unsought - spotlight.

 

"She had no idea," said Denise Bischoff, Katie's mother, who began taking phone calls about 1:30 p.m. from the "Today" show, Buffalo television stations and New York City newspapers.

 

Katie, whose prowess on the pitcher's mound has yet to extend to the press box, offered an easy smile but only terse and quiet responses in a short interview, often deferring to her mother. Ms. Bischoff said Katie turned "beet red" when she got on the telephone with a producer for "Today," which eventually decided not to present a segment on the perfect game, apparently because videotape of Katie's pitching was not available.

 

It was all a little dizzying for Oakfield, a community of about 3,200 with one traffic light in the center of town and three verdant baseball diamonds in the town park, with bright red sand around the bases and a small electronic scoreboard provided by the local Pepsi distributor.

 

"This is nothing we ever expected would happen," Ms. Bischoff said.

 

It is still, after all, the Little League, where players at widely varying stages of physical development are sometimes poorly matched. Katie, at 5-foot-8, is taller than any boy on her team.

 

But her performance Saturday was rare. Her perfect game was even more perfect than the common definition of the term, which refers to a pitching performance in which every batter is turned back, either by striking out or hitting a ball that results in an out.

 

Katie made it simpler: She struck out everybody, yielding no more than two balls to any batter.

 

"I can't remember this ever happening," said Mr. Sage, who was on duty with his Rochester fire company and missed Saturday's game, but said he received several phone calls from excited relatives as soon as Katie struck out the final batter in the six-inning game.

 

He said players on other teams in the league might find it unnerving to be overpowered by a girl on the pitcher's mound, but that Katie's teammates "think it is great that she's on our side."

 

Katie, whose full name is Katelyn, is in her third season playing hardball in the Little League. She decided at the last minute not to switch this summer to a girls softball team in the same league.

 

"We're glad she stayed with us," Mr. Sage said.

 

Even before the game on Saturday, which was her team's third outing this year, Katie demonstrated striking abilities on the mound, relying almost entirely on a fastball that she can "place just about where she wants," Mr. Sage said. In the season's first game, she allowed only one hit and struck out 14 batters in five innings.

 

She is also a major threat at the plate, with a batting average of .714 after three games.

 

Ms. Bischoff said her daughter had been an avid baseball player since she was about 6, and learned the game from two older brothers. But she said Katie's first year as the only girl in the Little League was trying, and her teammates sometimes told her she should play softball with the other girls.

 

"She is very competitive," Ms. Bischoff said. "She has proven herself, and now baseball is fun."

[kapkomet]

Daaaayyyyyuuummmm!

 

She STRUCK OUT EVERYONE?

 

:o :o

 

GOOD JOB!

[Soxy]

Daaaayyyyyuuummmm!

 

She STRUCK OUT EVERYONE?

 

:o :o

 

GOOD JOB!

Seriously. I bet she got taken out for ice-cream afterwards.

[kapkomet]

Seriously. I bet she got taken out for ice-cream afterwards. 

I bet all the dudes are too scared to ask her out. Oh wait, this is an 11 year old we're talking about.

 

Wait until she's 16. She's gonna be highly sought after. Hehe.

[Soxy]

I bet all the dudes are too scared to ask her out.  Oh wait, this is an 11 year old we're talking about.

 

Wait until she's 16.  She's gonna be highly sought after.  Hehe.

Unless she turns out like the USA Olympic softball players.....Heck, all the more reason to stick to baseball.....

 

Plus, she's probably at least 5 inches taller than everyone else on the team....

[southsider2k5]

Wow, that's awesome. It'll be interesting to track her and see if she can make a run into baseball.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Whatever, how'd she do at the plate?

[sec159row2]

did the cubs have a scout there?

[LosMediasBlancas]

did the cubs have a scout there?

 

Dusty was. She's throwing all 3 games against us over the weekend. He thinks she's good for about 570 pitches total.

[southsider2k5]

did the cubs have a scout there?

 

Rumor is Dusty thinks she can go 150 pitches

[kapkomet]

It mentions her batting average - .714 at the plate after three games.

 

Daaaaayyyyuuuummm (again).

 

Don't get mad at me, ladies, but once she hits 13-14, I doubt baseball is in her interest... although maybe it should be. She'll end up playing softball.

[TheBlackSox8]

ummmm...it is LITTLE LEAGUE, in a farm community.....How many players do you think are as good as her.....not many. So you would expect someone so good would dominate so much. Not much of a competition in farm communities obviously. I'm not doubting her talent, I'm just doubting the talent of the competition.

[kapkomet]

ummmm...it is LITTLE LEAGUE,  in a farm community.....How many players do you think are as good as her.....not many.  So you would expect someone so good would dominate so much.  Not much of a competition in farm communities obviously.  I'm not doubting her talent,  I'm just doubting the talent of the competition.

That may be true, but I can also tell you that those farm boys can play some ball - there's at least one pretty decent boy on every team.

 

To blow through a team like that is still pretty special.

[TheBlackSox8]

That may be true, but I can also tell you that those farm boys can play some ball - there's at least one pretty decent boy on every team.

 

To blow through a team like that is still pretty special.

I would think so.

there is always that one scrub team in every league though....

[Soxy]

ummmm...it is LITTLE LEAGUE,  in a farm community.....How many players do you think are as good as her.....not many.  So you would expect someone so good would dominate so much.  Not much of a competition in farm communities obviously.  I'm not doubting her talent,  I'm just doubting the talent of the competition.

This isn't the first game she's totally dominated in either.

 

I'm not saying she's Cy Young or anything--but come on, she struck out all the batters she faced while not getting above 2 balls. That's awesome at any level of play.

 

And never underestimate the atheletic prowess of farm boys....

[kapkomet]

And never underestimate the atheletic prowess of farm boys....

 

you got some personal experience in that area?

[Soxy]

  you got some personal experience in that area?

*cough* Uhhhhh, man it sure is a beeeeeeaaaaaaauuuuuuuutiful day today, huh? *cough*

[GoodAsGould]

Contreras and El Duque couldnt even of done that they probably walk a few.

[CrimsonWeltall]

18 strikeouts, that's nuts.

 

Not to be a naysayer, but being an 11 year old girl and 5'8", I'm guessing she has hit puberty early, while the boys in this league are little 4-foot-nothing runts.

[BobDylan]

That may be true, but I can also tell you that those farm boys can play some ball - there's at least one pretty decent boy on every team.

 

To blow through a team like that is still pretty special.

 

I've never seen it and there has been some decent pitching talent that has gone through here. Grant Johnson rings a bell.