Ayami Sato makes Canadian baseball history becoming the first woman in a pro men’s league [Video]

Ayami Sato’s first pitch marked a lot more than the start of a baseball game — it also opened a new chapter in Canadian baseball history. 

The 35-year-old Japanese pitcher is the first woman to play in a professional men’s league in Canada.

She made her debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday as they played against the Kitchener Panthers in the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) of southern Ontario (certainly not the only Leafs vs. Panthers match to watch out for this weekend).

The league is more than a century old, with Sato’s arrival breaking boundaries for women in Canadian baseball.

Young girls walked up to her ahead of the game, baseballs in hand, asking if she could sign them. 

“Baseball is the kind of sport that anyone can play regardless of their age, gender. So by playing more with this team, I wanna make sure everyone’s more encouraged to play baseball and enjoy it,” Sato told reporters via a translator after …