Nolan Mowry, a 4-year-old Little Leaguer, sat in the first row of Birmingham High's stands Saturday because he loves baseball. He's consumed by the sport. Nolan keeps his mother, Amy, posted on how many outs are left in innings and various other statistics. His father, Matt, happens to be the Patriots' head coach.
Nolan had no idea he was part of such a historic event.
Birmingham's Marti Sementelli, an 18-year-old senior, made the start against San Marcos of Santa Barbara pitcher Ghazaleh Sailors in what is believed to be the first time in California history two girls started in one high school baseball game.
Sementelli earned the win and Sailors the loss, but there were no losers in Birmingham's 6-1 victory.
Home plate umpire Larry Crino shakes hands with San Marcos Pitcher Ghazaleh Sailors as the two teams exchange lineups before the game. Birmingham High Pitcher Marti Sementelli and San Marcos Pitcher Ghazaleh Sailors have the distinct honor of breaking down one of baseball�s gender barriers, becoming the first females to start against each other in a high school baseball game. Birmingham Sementelli pitched her way to a 6-1 victory. (John McCoy/LA Daily News)
Just ask Nolan.
It's beautiful to watch the world through the eyes of a child, and for Nolan, cheering for Sementelli is as normal as going to the ballpark and eating his sunflower seeds.
Why wouldn't a girl play baseball?
"There's Marti!" Nolan exclaimed when he arrived at the Lake Balboa field.
There was Sementelli, an 18-year-old senior, on the mound in the biggest game of her life. She threw a complete game and allowed just one run. She scattered five hits and walked three over seven innings with a big media blitz and about 300 fans. She struck out four batters, and not one player threw his helmet or kicked the dirt afterward.
Sailors even pinch-hit in the seventh and faced Sementelli, who threw her three sliders. Sailors, who wore pink batting gloves, singled over the shortstop's head. A girl pitcher versus a girl batter.
"I didn't know other girls played baseball, to be honest," Sailors said before making the USA Baseball women's national team.
Sementelli and Sailors became friends through USA Baseball. Even on Saturday, Sailors considers Sementelli a teammate, not an opponent.
Nolan -- named after Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan -- didn't know this was extraordinary since two of his teammates on the Mid-Valley Dodgers Little League team are girls.
Asked what he liked about Sementelli, Lowry said: "pitching."
We should all be so matter-of-fact when it comes to the 5-foot-2 Sementelli pitching in a baseball game. Maybe, one day, we will be, but it's a rarity now.
So rare that author Jenny Ring, whose daughter plays baseball, flew in for the game. Another woman passed out fliers for tryouts for a women's baseball team in Southern California.
"What's incredible is that these girls had to fight so hard to play baseball," Ring said.
Sailors will play college baseball at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, which doesn't have athletic scholarships.
Sementelli hasn't decided where she'll play, but she had the NCAA change its athlete profile so she could click baseball instead of softball. No one had ever done that before. She checked male as her gender so that she could click baseball until she got someone to change it.
"This has given her a lot of self-confidence," said Gary Sementelli, her father. "She has a great disposition. It's a great learning tool for life."
All those days in Boston playing catch with her dad in the snow made Saturday possible. Softball was never an option.
"I'm not one to go the easy route or give up what I love," said Marti Sementelli. "I would suck at softball. Put that on the record."
San Marcos made the first move to get the game on the schedule and the ensuing all-girls pitching duel. The publicity followed.
Sailors pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs with two strikeouts. When she was relieved, she left the game by giving her coach, Tony Vanetti, a hug. It was a sweet moment, something you'd never see in Dodger Stadium.
Sailors then took off her cap and acknowledged the crowd, smiling as she walked off the field. It was the first time in a nonleague game that Sailors didn't hear jokes or comments about being a girl.
"Where's your pink batting helmet?" they'll ask. Or, "Ooooh, it's a girl."
Added Birmingham third baseman Erick Munoz: "We're all a big family. We all play together as one. We play with Marti."
There are an estimated 300 girls who play baseball in California and 1,500 nationwide.
Sementelli walked the first three batters she faced, then threw all of her pitches for strikes -- sliders and curveballs and changeups among them.
Had you not known her long hair was stuffed under her white cap, you probably would've assumed she was a boy.
The only concession Birmingham makes for Sementelli is that she has to change in the girls bathroom next to the baseball locker room and when the team stays in a hotel for a Las Vegas tournament, she rooms with her dad, Gary. Otherwise, Sementelli does everything the boys do.
Everyone won Saturday. This wasn't just about two girls playing baseball.
This was about anyone believing they can do whatever they want.
Just ask Nolan.
Adrianne Palicki Luján Fernández Sanaa Lathan Roselyn Sanchez Avril Lavigne
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