Quick Hit: Japanese Girl Drafted to Play Pro Baseball

A 16-year-old girl has been chosen to play on a Japanese men's baseball team, and is set to become the first woman to play professional baseball in Japan:

High school student Eri Yoshida was drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise, a professional team in a new independent Japanese league that will start its first season in April.

"I always dreamed of becoming a professional," Yoshida, who is 5-feet (152-centimeters) tall and weighs 114 pounds (52 kilograms), told a news conference Monday. "I have only just been picked by the team and haven't achieved anything yet." [...]

Yoshida took part in a tryout held earlier this month and passed with flying colors. The right-hander held male batters hitless for one inning in the tryout and her successful outing helped her become one of the 33 players picked in the draft.

Congrats and good luck, Eri Yoshida! I know I've got a new favorite team...