The Tablet Staff

Sister Mary Jo Sobieck, a theology teacher at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, is no stranger to the pitcher’s mound or the spotlight.

Video of the first pitch she threw out in August of last year at a Chicago White Sox game quickly went viral, dubbing her “Sister Strike.” 

That video has since racked up over 278,000 views on YouTube and has earned her a an ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) nomination in the “Best Viral Sports Moment” category.

Currents News spoke to Sister Mary Jo back in April of this year, after it was announced that her pitching prowess had earned her a baseball card deal with Topps. 

“I had a colleague at school that said to me, ‘Sister, you’re going to throw a strike and it’s going to go viral.’ And I’ll be honest with you, I always wondered what going viral even meant,”  the Dominican Sister said during the interview.

The ESPY awards will take place on July 10 in Los Angeles and will air nationally on ESPN and ABC. You can cast your vote for Sister Mary Jo by clicking here.