A PITCH INTO HISTORY

St. John’s pitcher Jaida Lee scheduled for a Toronto Blue Jays first pitch days after making Canada Games history

Earlier this week, St. John’s teen Jaida Lee made her mark in the history books as the first female player to compete in baseball at the Canada Games.

Now, the 16-year-old is set for another impressive feat.

Lee is set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at one of the games in the Toronto Blue Jays next home series at Rogers Centre.

The Jays hosts the Cleveland Guardians Aug. 12-14.

“It’s really exciting but nerve-racking at the same time,” she said.

Shortly before the Games started, the Blue Jays reached out to Team NL staff to check to see if it was something they could make happen.

Her availability depended on the results of Team NL.

“It was a big surprise to me,” said Lee.

Her big moment at Rogers Centre, where she hopes to throw a strike, comes hot on the heels of another big moment on the mound for Lee.

She made a relief appearance for the Newfoundland and Labrador’s game against Alberta, throwing 1 1/3 innings in the team’s 17-7 loss.

The moment she stepped onto the rubber at Welland Baseball Stadium, Lee made history.

With her first pitch — a strike — Lee became the first female athlete to compete in male baseball in the history of the sport at the Canada Games.

For a moment though, it felt like she was back home.

“Yeah, as soon as I started pitching, it felt like that,” said Lee. “It was the initial walking out.”

COACH PRAISES PITCHER

Team NL head coach David Coates had one of the best seats in the house for when Lee took the mound.

From his perch on the team’s bench, he watched as she started and completed her appearance for the team.

“That was a really cool moment for one of my athletes, to achieve something no other athlete has done before,” said Coates. “It’s a proud moment for her. As a coach, it was exciting, and all 19 of her teammates were generally and honestly thrilled for her, and that part was really cool, too.”

Baseball is a game of history and tradition.

As it happens, when something important happens in the game, the baseball used for those historic moments gets taken out of play and preserved.

The same thing happened here. The baseball thrown by Lee will soon be headed to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary’s, Ont.

“That is pretty cool. It is a big honour,” said Lee.

Perhaps it isn’t as cool as the reaction she’s been getting since arriving at the Games.

It is rare to become a role model at such a young age, but that is what Lee has become. She’s an inspiration to young female players across Newfoundland and Labrador and the country.

And, might be the coolest part of her story.

“It was definitely a lot of nerves stepping up on the mound, but it was really cool to hear everyone cheering and then after the game all the like younger kids coming up to me asking for pictures and stuff is pretty cool to see,” said Lee.