In a league of her own --- Girl, 11, throws perfect game against all-boys team
OAKFIELD, N.Y. -- Katie Brownell is a shy 11-year-old girl of few words. But when she gets on the baseball field, she lets her pitching do the talking.
Brownell is the only girl in the Oakfield-Alabama Little League baseball program in this community about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester. On Saturday, that didn't stop her from accomplishing something league officials can't remember anybody -- boy or girl -- ever doing.
She threw a perfect game for the Dodgers in an 11-0 victory over the Yankees.
How dominant was she? She struck out all 18 batters she faced in the six-inning victory. She never got to a three-ball count on any of them.
"As far back as I can remember, I don't ever recall hearing of a perfect game," said Eric Klotzbach, league president.
Katie said she knew she had a chance for something special in the fourth inning. Fortunately, Katie's coach, Joe Sullivan, realized that, too.
He had intended to pull Katie at some point during the game and was ready to do it when the scorekeeper told him she had a no-hitter going.
"I can't pull her out," Sullivan said after taking a look at the score book himself.
So, Katie kept mowing down the opposition and completed the task. Then the place exploded.
"Everybody congratulated me," Katie said.
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There's nine prepubescent guys in New York that are gonna get ragged for a long long time.......
