Female pitcher has her moments

Tom FitzGerald, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, May 30, 2010
Chico Outlaws knuckleballer Eri Yoshida pitches against t... Yoshida bumps fists with first-base coach Garry Templeton...

(05-30) 04:00 PDT Chico --

"The Knuckle Princess" made her American pro pitching debut Saturday night, and her part of the game wound up as a draw.

Eri Yoshida, a Japanese teenager who taught herself how to pitch a knuckleball, got the start for the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League and went three innings against the Tijuana Cimarrones, leaving with the score 4-4 in a game the Outlaws would win 8-6.

Yoshida, 18, gave up four earned runs on five hits and a walk before a highly supportive crowd of 4,400 at Nettleton Stadium on the Chico State campus. She received three ovations, including one after she slapped an opposite-field single to right to drive in a run in the first inning.

"It was unbelievable," she said through an interpreter about the hit. But she said she rated her pitching performance only a "20 out of 100."

"I'm not satisfied with my pitching, but I could see my future goals from this experience," she said.

She became the first woman to play in American pro baseball since Ila Borders pitched three seasons in the Northern League before finishing in the Western League in 2000.

Just a few weeks out of high school, Yoshida wasn't dazzling but showed remarkable poise against a lineup dotted with former big-league players. She made 47 pitches, committed a balk, threw a wild pitch, didn't strike out anybody and needed a couple of fine defensive plays to avert further damage.

She gave up a two-run homer to Juan Velasquez in the second inning.

"It was a knuckleball but it came in straight," she said.

Otherwise, her slow offerings left the Cimarrones off balance until the third inning, when she gave up two more runs.

The 5-foot-2, 115-pounder uses a sidearm delivery and pitches from the stretch even with no runners on base.

She gave up a bunt single to the first batter she faced, ex-Giants infielder Ivan Ochoa, a move that drew predictable hoots from the crowd. But Erold Andrus, the brother of Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, fouled out to the catcher. And Jackson Melian, whom the Yankees gave a $1.2 million signing bonus in 1996 but who hasn't reached the big leagues, grounded into a double play.

"I was more nervous a week ago (for a practice game)," Yoshida said, adding, "My teammates tried to make me relaxed."

Shortstop Alex Prieto ranged into short center field to make a fine catch and avoid further trouble in the second inning. Another run was cut down at the plate in the third on a fine throw by left fielder J.J. Sherrill.

Former Royals and Rockies infielder Kit Pellow, who flied out to left against Yoshida, said her knuckleball "wasn't on" or moving a lot. "It was doing a lot of tumbling, but it was just slow," he said.