Birmingham Senior Throws America’s Pastime a Curveball

Marti Sementelli looks forward to the day when the public and media are not so curiously amazed by the fact that a girl is playing alongside boys on a high school baseball team.

It’s not that the 18-year-old Birmingham High baseball pitcher dislikes interviews or isn’t willing to answer the seemingly obligatory “Why-don’t-you-just-play-softball?” question for the ten thousandth time. Sementelli isn’t shy about the attention, doesn’t allow it to distract her and sees the publicity as a way to help other girls break baseball’s perceived gender barrier. And besides, she’s planning to major in communications.

But the day human beings stop marveling over the sight of a young woman competing against young men in a sport dominated by males since its inception will be a day of immense satisfaction for Sementelli. The lack of hoopla will mean a girl’s decision to play baseball has become no more significant than a woman practicing as a physician, serving as a Supreme Court justice or running for president.  And Sementelli plans to do everything she can to make that possible future a reality.    

“When I’m 70, I want to look back and say I had some impact [on opening baseball’s door to women]," the right-hander said. “There could be so many things in that timeframe that could have changed because of something I had a part of and I think that’s really special.

“I don’t know what I want to do with my life as far as a job, but I want to have an impact on coaching girls at some level, like giving motivational speeches for girls to play baseball, because I wish I’d had that.”

She may not have had many baseball-playing female role models, but she did have her father. Sementelli’s entire life has been centered around baseball in no small part because Gary Sementelli’s life has revolved around his daughter. 

A former high school and American Legion baseball player, Gary put a souvenir Boston Red Sox bat in Marti’s hands at the age of 2 and the rest literally has been history – a history of appearances on television shows (“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” at age 10; she struck him out) and in public (she met legendary Major League pitching coach Leo Mazzone at Dodger Stadium when she was 8). Her ongoing story has attracted national attention, including a recent appearance on ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” and a flock of Facebook followers– mostly young women who admire Sementelli and are inspired by her accomplishments.

“It’s been like a reality show every summer or every spring,” said her father, who played baseball with his daughter on a daily basis throughout her youth. “From [ages] 7 to 12, she struck out over 500 batters, had maybe 50 wins, led her teams to championships and made every all-star team you could make.

“Now she’s playing pretty good, competitive baseball where she’s playing against a lot of guys who may play [NCAA] Division I and maybe get drafted" by a Major League organization.

Sementelli is also a member of the U.S. women’s national baseball team. She made the squad for the first time as a 15-year-old and competed in the 2008 Women’s Baseball World Cup, hosted by Japan. The U.S. won the bronze medal and Sementelli was voted the tournament’s most valuable pitcher.  

Now she hopes to make more history by competing on a men’s college baseball team. She’s been recruited by Montreat College, an NAIA school in western North Carolina, but is still entertaining offers. 

And from there? Major League scouts have shown little interest because the 5-foot-2, 117-pounder doesn’t throw faster than 80 mph. But with a nice mix of pitches, Sementelli figures she could become a Greg Maddux-like finesse pitcher who might earn a chance to play in Major League Baseball’s minor league system or an independent professional league. There has been talk of a women’s pro league, too, but Sementelli isn’t convinced that will become a reality before her playing days are over.

For now, she is enjoying her senior season for the Patriots, which began with a showcase match-up against another Southern California female pitcher. Sementelli started Birmingham’s March 5 home game, facing San Marcos (of Santa Barbara) starting pitcher Ghazaleh Sailors. It was believed to be the first-ever U.S. high school baseball game in which both starting pitchers were girls, and that attracted a large media contingent. Sementelli pitched a complete game in Birmginham’s 6-1 victory.

About 400 girls play baseball in California, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, but few of them see significant playing time. This season, Sementelli has appeared in four of the Patriots’ first nine games, allowing four earned runs in 13 innings for a very respectable 2.77 earned run average. She has a 2-0 record and struck out five batters in her start against San Marcos.

Sementelli said despite being a baseball pioneer, she hasn’t had to deal with much negativity from other teams. Her father, she said, hears a few derogatory comments in the stands once in a while. But on the diamond, she’s treated like just another baseball player by the opposing nine.

“I’ve never had any player come up to me and insult me,” she said. “If anything, it’s ‘Hey, you pitched really well’ and compliments.”

Striking out against a girl might be tough for some guys to take, but Birmingham third baseman and co-captain Erick Munoz said it’s an adjustment he and the rest of his team’s top hitters have had to make – they’ve all struck out against Sementelli in practice games.

“She strikes you out and it’s, like, it’s really surprising. She pitches really, really well,” Munoz said following Saturday’s 8-3 win over Bell, a game in which starter Kevin Torres went the distance and didn’t need a reliever’s help.

“We treat her just like anyone else,” Munoz added. “The only difference is she dresses in the restroom and we’re in the dugout.

“We have her back all the time. She’s like a real role model to a lot of the girls at school and they come out [to games] and support her, too.”

Birmingham Coach Matt Mowry said when Sementelli moved into the school’s attendance area before her junior season, he had no hesitation about having a girl on his team.

“We’ve been very receptive to her, she’s just like anybody else,” Mowry said. “Obviously, I know the situation is a little different. But from the first time she came out and pitched, she looked good and that was all that was a concern to me – are you going to be able to help me out and can you perform on the field? That’s what it’s all about.”

She won’t overpower anyone with her speed, the coach admits, but Sementelli has an impressive repertoire of pitches and excellent location, keeping the ball down and hitters off balance. Among her pitches are a two-seam fastball, cut fastball, slider, change-up and two different types of palm balls.

Mowry generally uses Sementelli in middle-relief situations and considers her one of the top five pitchers on his club, which is off to a 7-3 start.

“She’s doing the things that are paving the way for other girls in the future,” Mowry said. “She’s competitive and she’s worked hard to get where she is today."

There is no truth to the rumor, however, that Marti is named after former Boston pitcher and future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.    

Oh, and about that softball question, which Sementelli is asked so often from people with rigid ideas about gender segregation in sports: She politely points out that softball and baseball are two completely different sports.

“It’s a different field, two different balls, different bats, different pitching styles, there’s different rules. Everything about it is different,” she said.

“I don’t even know softball terms, I’ve never played the game before and so for someone to say ‘if you’d switch to softball,’ that’s like saying would I want to go play tennis. It’s not the same thing, I wouldn’t be good at it.  It’d be like starting over and learning a new game.”