Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera was honored at Wednesday's Texas Rangers game against the New York Yankees when she threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
From the podium to the pitcher’s mound, the 16-year-old from Plano didn’t disappoint.
“A little bit nervous because I’ve never done this sport before,” Rivera told NBC 5 before the big moment.
She says she threw a half-dozen practice pitches with her brother earlier this week to prepare.
Rivera returned to north Texas just a month ago from the Paris Olympics, where the U.S. women won team gold.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
“It’s been crazy, a lot going on, and I have more coming up, but I just recently started school,” said Rivera.
The crowd went wild Wednesday when she took the field at Globe Life Field.
Before her pitch, she made her signature move, a side aerial, before throwing a strike right down the middle -- a perfect 10 that had fans flipping.
