Bayonne, New Jersey will be known from here on out as the town where the insult, “You throw like a girl” was officially elevated from insult to compliment by Miss Mackenzie Brown, a 12-year-old pitcher who became the first girl in the history of the Bayonne Little League to throw a perfect game.
Dubbed “L’il Miss Perfect” by the New York Post, Miss Brown struck out 12 boys and retired all 18 of the boys she faced. The second-to-last batter fouled off numerous pitches, but she eventually struck him out. Her pitching led her team to an 8-0 victory against a team called Mackenzie Post.
“In like the fourth inning I kind of knew,” she said, according to the Star-Ledger. “Then I just tried to keep doing what I was doing and not try to mess it up.”
Attention on Miss Brown went from local to national when she was invited to throw out the first pitch at tonight’s game at Citi Field when the Mets host the Washington Nationals. “It’s been pretty crazy,” she said. “In school I have all these teachers asking for my autograph. I wasn’t used to that.”
Norman Brown, Miss Brown’s father, said he was very proud of his daughter, who is one of two girls in the league. Her manager, Glenn Regan, said “There are some players I might worry about if their hats would fit on their heads by the time I needed them to pitch again, but not Mackenzie.”