Girl Pitcher Mo’Ne Davis ‘Surprised’ by Her Little League Stardom
Published at
iStock/Thinkstock(WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.) — The girl who pitched a shutout on national television to get her team into the Little League World Series said Monday that she was “surprised” by her performance, but she is not surprised by the attention.
Mo’Ne Davis, 13, carried her team – the Taney Youth Baseball Association Little League of Philadelphia – to an 8-0 victory over a squad from Delaware on Sunday. The game was broadcast on ESPN.
The star of the game was Davis, who used a 70-mph fastball and a curve to strike out six over the six-inning game.
The Taney team will now advance to the Little League World Series, which starts Thursday in Williamsport, Pa.
“My teammates and I were yelling and screaming after the game,” Davis said. “I have amazing teammates. We have been playing together for a very long time, since we were 7.”
Davis will become the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series in 68 years.
Davis’s mother, Lakeisha McLane, said her daughter is used to success.
“She [Davis] is used to all the fame and attention. It doesn’t bother her at all,” her mother said.
McLane said people would question Davis’ abilities when she was younger because of her gender.
“People would say: ‘Look, they got a girl in the team,'” McLane said. “She wasn’t bothered at all. She does what she is going to do. She shows them otherwise.”
Her mother, however, is surprised by her daughter’s athletic success.
“She didn’t play any sport until she was 6,” McLane told ABC News. “Now she is playing basketball, soccer and baseball. I don’t know where she got it from.”
McLane said Mo’Ne doesn’t get a lot of baseball training.
“She practices two to three times a week at the recreational center,” McLane said. “It isn’t intense training.”
Mo’Ne, who will be in eighth grade in the fall, said, “I always do my schoolwork first, then I play sports.”
She talks like a seasoned pro, however.
“When I play, I always cheer on my teammates and try to make them laugh,” Davis said. “We try to not let each other worry about one mistake, because worrying too much can cost the whole game.”
“We always pick each other up,” Davis said.
Although her baseball performance is getting a lot of buzz from around the nation, Davis said she wants to be a professional basketball player in the future.
“I want to play for WNBA eventually,” Davis said.
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio