Baseball: Sementelli to throw out first pitch

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Lake Balboa Birmingham’s Marti Sementelli, the female relief pitcher who helped the Patriots rebound from a two-victory season to win a game in the City Section playoffs, has been asked to throw out the first pitch when the Dodgers play host to the Florida Marlins on July 7 at Dodger Stadium.

‘She can’t wait for it,’ said Gary Sementelli, Marti’s father. ‘This has never happened before.’

It will not be Sementelli’s first time on the field at Dodger Stadium. She got to play catch with the Atlanta Braves’ Chipper Jones when she was 8, in 2001, and met with then-Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone, whose philosophy of pitching she has closely adhered to throughout the years.

One Dodger who did not seem to be on board with the event was Kevin Brown, who shot Sementelli’s father a telling glance.

‘It was one of the dirtiest looks I’ve ever seen,’ Gary Sementelli said. ‘He had such a look of disgust and loathing. It was typical Kevin Brown.’

--Ben Bolch