Getting your player ready...
A 16-year-old schoolgirl is making a pitch to become the first female to play professional baseball in Japan. High school student Eri Yoshida was drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise, a professional team in a new independent Japanese league that starts its first season in April. “I always dreamed of becoming a professional,” Yoshida said Monday. “I have only just been picked by the team and haven’t achieved anything yet.” Yoshida, a right-hander who is 5-feet and 114 pounds, throws a sidearm knuckleball and wants to emulate Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. The Associated Press
