This weekend marked the apparent first time two high school boys' baseball teams faced off with opposing female starting pitchers.
Marti Sementelli of Lake Balboa Birmingham High took the mound Saturday against Ghazaleh Sailors of San Marcos High School.
Sementelli, who is arguably one of the best female pitchers out there, threw a complete game. She gave up one earned run, three walks, and recorded four strikeouts. Sailors went 3 1/3 innings, giving up three hits, a walk, and fanning two batters.
This match-up though was less about stats, and more about history, ESPN Los Angeles reported:
After watching Sementelli and San Marcos' Ghazaleh Sailors on Saturday, you couldn't help wonder what was possible for women in baseball. Why shouldn't they have their own league or, for that matter, why couldn't they one day break down the gender barrier in Major League Baseball, just as Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers did for the race barrier 64 years ago?
"I never thought this would happen," Sailors told the Los Angeles Times. "For me, this is about history, about creating more opportunities so girls won't have to go through what I went through."
There are about 1,000 female high school players in the United States, with about 400 playing in California, ESPN reported.
