Peyton Stearns swaps serves for strikes in Cleveland

Last week, Cincinnati native Peyton Stearns was lined up for a ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball fixture between her hometown team, the Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies. The weather had other ideas, and due to a pesky rain delay affecting the action at the Cincinnati Open, those plans had to be abandoned.

This weekend, however, the sun was shining in Cleveland, and Stearns, in town for the Tennis in the Land WTA 250 event, was thrilled to be given a similar opportunity when the Cleveland Guardians took on the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

“It was so much fun,” said Stearns after delivering her throw in front of a packed crowd at Progressive Field.

“I was super nervous about not throwing the ball near the catcher, but it only moved a little bit, so I think I did a pretty good job. I’ll take it as a win!”

Asked whether she did anything special to prepare for the moment, Stearns laughed: “The warm-up was all on the tennis court this morning, hitting serves!”

Like tennis, baseball boasts a proud tradition: Both sports, as fans recognize them today, emerged in the 19th century.

While lawn tennis has its roots in England, the first U.S. National Championships, today known as the US Open, were held in 1881 at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island -- now home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

And as it happens, Major League Baseball was founded in Cincinnati in 1876.

History aside, Stearns enjoys the correlations between the different skillsets the sports’ elite exponents must possess.

“I think there’s similarity between the pitcher and the server,” she said. “A lot of times, tennis coaches compare serves to a baseball throw out. The curve ball is like the slice serve, so it’s kind of cool to use those analogies and crisscross through sports.”

But is she worried that her Cincy allegiances might be questioned?

“I’m not sure, I know some of the Reds players follow me on Instagram … they may not be happy!”