Will You Accept This Ball? Katie Thurston Throws First Pitch in Seattle

Bachelorette Katie Thurston showed off her athletic side at the Seattle Mariners game on Friday, June 18 — read more

Batter up! Katie Thurston is already a pro at fending off suitors who aren’t here for the right reasons, but now she can add MLB pitcher to her resume.

The Bachelorette star, 30, threw out the first pitch during the Seattle Mariners home game at T-Mobile Park on Friday, June 18, wearing a custom jersey with her name on the back. “Shoutout to @mariners for having me tonight!” she wrote via Instagram, alongside a video of her walking to the mound. “Thanks for joining us!” the Mariners team account replied in a comment on the post.

After her pitch, a batboy for the team presented the Washington native with a rose. She also posed for photos with Mariner Moose, the baseball team’s mascot. She may have given her home team some good luck too, because they ended up winning 5-1 vs. the Tampa Bay Rays.

In an Instagram Story, the reality star revealed that Mariners pitcher Justin Dunn and first baseman Evan White gave her the ball she threw, decorated with a sticky note. “Hope you enjoy the game!” they wrote. “Huge fan. Thank you for exposing the queen.”

The MLB players were seemingly referring to Victoria Larson, who starred alongside Thurston on Matt James’ season of The Bachelor and claimed that her profession was “queen.” The bank marketing manager memorably spoke out against Larson’s behavior in the house.

“I feel like a lot of the girls going on were careful about what they said, or they wanted to present themselves well and, like, I just wanted to have fun,” Larson, 28, said in April during an episode of the “Not Skinny Not Fat” podcast, addressing the backlash against her. “Like, it’s a show. I wasn’t taking it seriously.”

Kit Keenan, who also appeared on season 25 of The Bachelor, praised her former castmate’s pitching performance in an Instagram comment. “OMG cutie,” she wrote.

Thurston also earned a compliment from Kaitlyn Bristowe, who served as a guest host with Tayshia Adams for her season of The Bachelorette. “CUTE,” the “Off the Vine” host, 36, wrote.

Season 17 of the show premiered earlier this month, but filming wrapped on April 26. Since returning home, Thurston has obviously stayed quiet about how the finale will play out but has been teasing fans via social media.

“I’m looking for a mature man who can handle himself, understand what he signed up for, which is you’re sharing a girlfriend right now and do the best that they can,” she told Us Weekly ahead of the June 7 premiere. “If the thought of being engaged scares you, then you’re not ready to be with me.”

Keep scrolling to see more photos from Thurston’s pitching debut: