Back in November, we brought you the news that a professional baseball team in Japan had signed a 16-year-old pitcher. Which may not sound like much…until you learn it was a girl. Well, now she’s made her pro debut.

Eri Yoshida faced two batters and struck out one of them in her debut with the Kobe 9 Cruise of the new Kansai Independent League. She entered in the ninth inning of her teams 5-0 win over Osaka in front of a crowd of more than 11,000 at the Osaka Dome. Yoshida, a five-footer who relies on her knuckleball, walked the first batter she faced but then settled in.

Many have speculated that Yoshida’s signing was just a publicity stunt by the new league to draw curiosity, but it looks like Yoshida might not be totally in over her head. It would be tough for any 17-year-old to play pro baseball, but she had a pretty nice debut give she’s the only woman playing professionally in a men’s league.

FOX’s Andy Bartkewicz touches on the controversy, which was largely sparked by ESPN’s Rob Neyer, who worried that Yoshida might not be able to handle the other demands of the pitcher’s position.

According to MLB.COM, Yoshida’s pretty happy with her debut:

“I wasn’t thinking about anything other than just going out there and giving it my all,” Yoshida, who emulates Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, was quoted as saying by AP. “I think this was a bad result, but the stadium is great and the fans were really cheering me on. I want to be able to pitch more innings and become a pitcher who can be relied upon.”

Well, at the very least, we know Jason Varitek won’t be catching Yoshida if she ever makes it in America.

And how about her saying that her outing was a “bad result?” Talk about high expectations. Throwing a knuckleball is about the only way that a woman would be able to pitch professionally. If she can master the pitch, why couldn’t she have a career with the men?