Plant City girl, 12, pitches second perfect Little League game

For the second time in less than a year, 12-year-old Chelsea Baker has accomplished one of baseball's rarest feats.

After throwing a perfect game June 30, the Turkey Creek Middle School seventh-grader did it again April 9.

The Plant City Little League pitcher's first perfect game was during a 21-0 rout of North Lakeland. The latest came during a game in which she struck out 16 of 18 batters in six innings to defeat J.R. Farms, 1-0.

"Nobody really notices she's a girl because she's just a great athlete," said Stephen Gude, Baker's coach for the Plant City Little League Brandon Farms team.

Before every pitch, Gude signals Chelsea what to throw. Her repertoire includes three pitches: a four-seam fastball, a curveball and a knuckleball. The movement on her knuckleball has given some umpires difficulties in determining whether it was a ball or strike.

"One ump told me after a game that it mesmerized him. The ball jumped all over the place," said Baker's stepfather Rod Mason.

"She throws her fastball so good, we rarely use off-speed pitches," Gude said. "She'll locate it high in the zone and then low."

Gude and Mason both said Baker throws the ball in the mid-60-mph range.

She learned her knuckleball from former major-leaguer Joe Niekro, a Plant City resident who died in 2006. Her pitches have done more than make many children whiff at the plate; they have drawn attention to Baker on a national scale.

Justine Siegal, who coached the Brockton Rox of the Can Am League in 2009, is the first woman to coach professional men's baseball. She founded Baseball for All, an organization that provides opportunities for girls to play baseball. After she read about Baker online after her first perfect game, Siegal recruited Chelsea to play on her traveling team, the Sparks.

Siegal's traveling team fields the nation's best 13 girls, who try their game against other traveling boys teams.

Siegal sees a lot of potential in Chelsea.

"She's got great command of her pitches, she hits line drives and she can pick the ball off the dirt -- an ideal player," Siegal said.

Chelsea hopes to play in high school, college "if I can keep up with the boys," she said.

"She's got the golden ticket: a great knuckleball," Siegal said. "With a 70-mph fastball and a knuckleball, she can play in college. If she keeps working hard and finds the right opportunities, I don't see why she couldn't."