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Updated Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:10 am TWN, AP

Japanese schoolgirl drafted by pro team

TOKYO -- A 16-year-old schoolgirl is making a unique pitch to become the first woman 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 will start its first season in April.

“I always dreamed of becoming a professional,” Yoshida, who is 5-feet (152-centimeters) tall and weighs 114 pounds (52 kilograms), told a news conference Monday. “I have only just been picked by the team and haven’t achieved anything yet.”

Yoshida throws a side-arm knuckleball and says she wants to follow in the footsteps of Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, who has built a successful major league career throwing a knuckleball.

Yoshida took part in a tryout held earlier this month and passed with flying colors. The right-hander held male batters hitless for one inning in the tryout and her successful outing helped her become one of the 33 players picked in the draft.

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	Japanese high school student Eri Yoshida, 16, smiles as she poses for photographers after being drafted by an independent league’s professional team during a press conference in Osaka, western Japan Sunday, Nov. 16. Yoshida, who throws a side-arm knuckleball and says she wants to follow the footsteps of Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. (AP) Enlarge Photo


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