NOT JUST FOR THE BOYS: Local girls aspiring to excel on the baseball field

GERMANTOWN, Md. - Fox's new baseball drama, "Pitch," premiered Thursday night and the show revolves around a female pitcher who becomes the first woman to play Major League Baseball.

We know that in reality there are no women on the baseball diamond in the major leagues - yet - but there are a few young girls in the D.C. region playing baseball on the high school level who believe it can and will happen.

Allie Onorati is one of a small handful of girls in our area breaking down barriers.

"They ask me to play softball, but I'm just like, 'No, baseball is my sport. It's just what I do,'" she said.

This spring, the freshman is expected to be the only girl on the Rockville High School junior varsity baseball team.

"The game is just so fast and I love how you have to think through every play," said Onorati.

"She loves to be thrown hard at," said her father, Paulo. "She loves the challenge."

He helped her daughter learn the sport by guiding her through Montgomery County's Kidball and BCC Select.

Allie has always believed baseball is not just for boys. Her New York Yankees-themed bedroom is proof of that.

Her father is floored that she is now playing fall ball with her high school classmates and said the boys on her team respect her.

"They were always happy when she came up, and she was up with runners on, because they knew that she would put the ball in play and there was a good chance that they would score runs," said Paulo. "And she is very quick too. She is very, very fast."

The desire to play baseball set in when she was about 7 years old. She noticed a girl on her older brother's team.

"She had a pink helmet and I wanted a pink helmet, so my parents told me if I wanted a pink helmet, I had to play baseball," Allie recalled.

That girl is Kelli Jenkins and she is now a junior at St. John's College High School in Washington D.C. She is still someone Allie looks up to.

"I love that because that is one of my goals in playing baseball - to see more girls involved," Jenkins told FOX 5.

She played junior varsity her first two years of high school and is determined to make varsity this spring as a pitcher.

There is no windmill for this girl. Her go-to pitch?

"Knuckleball," she said. "Because I break kids' ankles with it ... I have actually broken a kid's knee with it. I feel bad about that."

There are some moments that have made Jenkins cringe for another reason - comments from opposing coaches and parents. The one that stands out to her: "Don't get struck out by a girl. That would be so embarrassing." But Jenkins said it just makes her stronger on the mound.

Both girls will be drawing inspiration from the new FOX show "Pitch" this fall.

"I can compare stuff that I have gone through and it looks pretty accurate from what she is going through," Jenkins said.

Will the Major League Baseball ever have a female on the field in real life?

"I have no doubt about that," said Jenkins.

"I think so," said Onorati. "I think one day it's going to happen."

There are already some colleges looking at Jenkins.

"I'm pretty sure it could be me," Jenkins told us.

"My plan is to make a team and just play and see how I do against high school level and just go from there," said Onorati.

Could a woman actually play in the majors? Doctors say physically it should be possible for a woman compete on that level. There are already women playing on the college level and there is also a United States women's national baseball team.

But these girls said that it is just all about believing that anyone can do any sport. It is just about believing in yourself and putting the effort in.