Inspiring Teen Plays Ball with the Boys and Strikes Them Out Every Time

Chelsea Baker throws like a girl, and it's a baseball pitch no one, not even the boys, can hit.

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The 16-year-old pitcher from Plant City, Florida first appeared in headlines a few years ago when her Little League jersey was retired after she pitched four straight years without losing a game. Now, Chelsea is back in the news as one of the few girls to play varsity baseball in high school.

Dubbed the "Knuckleball Princess" by her followers in Japan, the teen throws a crazy curve ball that has set her at the top of the sport and beguiled even the most skilled of her opponents.

"You never hear of girls playing in high school because of the discrimination," Chelsea tells the Good News Blog. "People say, 'You're a girl. It's a boy's sport. You don't have the strength or the talent.' They don't accept girls and I think that's why a lot of girls don't play."

Not Chelsea, of course. The insults and detractors only motivated her to work harder in order to play ball with the boys. The athlete has been playing baseball most of her life. When she was 7, she happened to be on the same team as the son of Joe Niekro, a former pitcher for the Houston Astros who perfected the knuckleball throw.

Chelsea convinced Niekro to teach her his trick, and three years later, she was using it against 10-year-old opponents, and winning every time. Niekro passed away around that time, and Chelsea continues to use it in his honor.

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The unique curveball has proven to be key in Chelsea's success. While she doesn't have the fastest throw on her team at Durant High, she has the pitch no one can hit. She's won every game she's pitched since February, and has further developed the throw with professional players.

"I spent a day with Tim Wakefield, he was a knuckleball pitcher for the Red Sox, and one of the best ever," Chelsea says. "He gave me some tips, and now my knuckleball's a lot better. I also spent the weekend with Frank Viola, who just got drafted by the Blue Jays, and he gave me some tips as well."

Though she's received contract offers to play in Japan, Chelsea says right now her focus is just on high school, tryouts for the USA women's team in the fall, and the possibility of playing in college. She feels humbled by the media attention, and hopes it will serve as inspiration to other women who want to challenge the norm and bend the rules of gender.

"I've had girls write to me on Facebook that they can't play baseball because the coach doesn't think they're any good," she notes. "I write them back and tell them not to listen, to do what you love, and if you love to play baseball, to play… if you don't give up on yourself, you can do anything."

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Chelsea may inspire others off the field, as her story is currently the subject of a movie in development. A filmmaker followed her around several years ago and wrote a screenplay about her life, which has since been sold to Universal.

"That would be one of the coolest things that's ever been done about me," Chelsea comments. "Hopefully, it will show people that I'm inspirational, and that I'm doing something no one's ever done."

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