Follow Up: Maybe We Shouldn't Sign Her Up

That 11-year-old kid that threw a perfect game the other day got rocked in her last start.  She gave up 15 hits (to the LL A's!)

It's too bad too, because it sounds like she's been handling the publicity pretty well.  It would have been great to see her rack up another 18 K's.  

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050521/SPORTS/305210001/1007/SPORTS

(May 21, 2005) -- OAKFIELD -- Friday evening, six days after her pitcher-perfect performance had focused the eyes of the sports world on this dot-on-the-map town of 3,000, Katie Brownell took the mound.

The 11-year-old adjusted the long blonde hair flowing from beneath her blue Dodgers cap, took a deep breath and threw a fastball toward the plate.

As four television camera crews, including one from CBS Evening News, focused in, Athletics leadoff hitter Tommy Manzella smacked a triple over the center fielder's head.

It would be that kind of night for Katie. Six days after striking out all 18 boys she had faced in an Oakfield-Alabama Little League game, Katie wound up getting batted around for 15 hits in an 11-3 loss.

"She just wasn't herself out there tonight because it had been such a long, long day," her mom, Denise Bischoff, sighed. "But I'm still proud of her. Win or lose, I always am."

And the 200 spectators -- roughly twice the normal crowd for a Little League game here -- are still proud of her, too.

They're grateful for the national exposure Katie has generated for their rural Genesee County town. Some folks are so thrilled they want to rename the field after her -- the only female among the league's 71 players.

"It's been unbelievable," said Katie's father, Mark Brownell. "The phone hasn't stopped ringing. I just got done talking to Letterman's people before I came here and we turned down Conan O'Brien because he wanted her tonight and we told them that there was no way Katie was going to miss a game."

The week had been both exhilarating and exhausting. Katie's remarkable feat was picked up by virtually every newspaper in the country and attracted the attention of not only Letterman and Conan, but also ESPN, Tony Danza, Ellen DeGeneres, Today, CNN, Mitch Albom, Sports Illustrated and Time magazine.

Even President Bush's people caught wind of Katie's 18 Ks, inviting her to attend his appearance at Greece Athena High School next Tuesday.

"That would be really cool if I was able to meet the President," Katie said.

Friday turned out to be her most demanding day. It began with a 6 a.m. appearance at the Little League field so a camera crew from Good Morning America could show her delivering a couple of pitches. Katie's first delivery on national television sailed over the catcher's head, but her second toss was a strike down the heart of the plate.

Later in the morning, there was a live interview on ESPN2's Cold Pizza, as well as numerous requests of another kind from her fellow students.

"A bunch of people were gathered around her locker asking for her autograph," said her good friend and classmate, Katie Schultz. "Several seventh-graders wanted her to sign their T-shirts. It was wild."

By the time she arrived at the field for her game, she seemed exhausted.

The bleachers on the first-base side were packed. Standing on the top row were three television cameramen, chronicling her every move.

"She got about two or three hours' sleep last night," her mother said. "I don't think she's going to have any problem falling asleep (Friday) night. She'll probably collapse from exhaustion."

"We never thought it would take off like this," said league president Eric Klotzbach. "She really has captured people's imagination nationwide."

Particularly other girls.

Her advice to them: "Just believe in your dreams and go out and have fun."