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Ayami Sato (born December 21, 1989) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Aichi Dione in the Japan Women’s Baseball League. She is also a starting pitcher for the Japanese women’s national baseball team, who she has led to five world cup medals. She

has also coached for Fukuchiyama Narumi High School.

She is considered by many to be the best female baseball player. Sato can throw close to 80 miles an hour. Her curveball was clocked at 2,583 revolutions per minute. By comparison, Major League Baseball's Clayton Kershaw, perhaps the greatest American pitcher of the last decade, has an average RPM of 2,373.

Early Life
Sato attended Kamimura Garkuen High School in Kagoshima Japan. She then attended Shobi University in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan where she played on her college women’s baseball team.

Sato found her love of baseball through playing catch with her brother at age 9. Back then there was no women’s team in Japan. "I played against boys, and then I wanted to be them," Sato emphasized through a translator.

Her family had her back when she decided to become a professional pitcher. Sato left home when she was in high school, "so after[wards] ... there was a little distance between the family and [myself]." But her parents would follow along with Sato's career through the media — she played on her college women's team, and joined the Japan Women's League after it was founded in 2009 — and they continue to be "very supportive."

Women's National World Cup
Sato debuted in the 2010 Women’s Baseball World Cup, going 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA, beating Puerto Rico and shutting out Venezuela. She then went on to beat USA, only allowing two hits and no walks, and in effect eliminating them from a shot at the gold. Japan won the title that year, and Sato was named the Cup All-Star starting pitcher.

In the 2012 Women’s Baseball World Cup, Sato was 1-0 with a 0.72 ERA. She helped Japan win their third world cup in a row that year.

During the 2014 Women’s Baseball World Cup she led with two wins and a 0.00 ERA, pitching 12 innings and 10 strikeouts. She pitched in the gold medal game against USA and outdueled Sarah Hudek. She led her team to a third straight gold medal and received her first MVP award for her dominant performance. Since Sato’s debut in 2010, Japan has won five world cup medals.

In 2016 she had a 1.33 ERA and received another MVP award.

In 2018, she won her third straight MVP award in the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup and led Japan to their sixth straight world cup.

Japan Women's Baseball
In 2013, Sato made her debut in the Japan Women’s Baseball League with North Reia. She led the league with 62 strikeouts as a rookie.

She was 11-9 with a save for North Reia in 2014 and led the loop with 66 whiffs. In 2015, she posted a 9-9, 2.43 record when moving to Hyogo Dione after North Reia became a development team. During 2016, she improved to 9-3, 2.17, leading the league in wins and ERA.