WARNER ROBINS -- Alex Fulmer, with her two long braids hanging out of her hat, took the mound Monday for South Carolina.

She threw 85 pitches, 56 for strikes, before reaching her limit and being pulled out in the bottom of the sixth in a game against Florida.

But not before making a bit of Little League history.

Fulmer, whose nickname is Lulu, is the only girl to ever pitch in a Little League Baseball Southeastern Region Tournament game, according to region officials.

“We’ve had other girls play, but none have pitched,” said regional director Jen Colvin.

Fulmer, 12, was unfazed by the attention. She didn’t even know about her new place in the history books until it was announced on the public address system.

“It’s not nerve-wracking at all,” Alex Fulmer said.

She joked she was more worried about her mother having a heart attack in the stands than her own pitching.

Fulmer also pitched in the semifinal game for the South Carolina state championship where Irmo Little League won 17-2. She was the catcher for the championship game.

Fulmer’s brother, 17-year-old Cody Fulmer, is the reason she has been determined to play baseball since age 4. Her mother, Kelley Fulmer, said her daughter always wanted to be like her big brother.

“Me and my brother have a competition,” Alex Fulmer said.

Big brother was obviously proud Monday.

“It’s pretty neat with her being the first girl” to pitch in the tournament, he said.

After the game, which Florida won 5-4, parents from the opposing team as well as umpires and volunteers congratulated Fulmer on her accomplishment.

“They’ve been pulling for her,” said Kelley Fulmer.

One father from South Carolina hugged the braided baseball player and whispered in her ear about how proud he was of what she had done. The gesture brought tears to her mom’s eyes.

“This has been great for her,” Kelley Fulmer said.

Even players from the opposing teams were supportive of playing against a girl. If they weren’t, they might have to face the wrath of her teammate Parker Beatson, and even Alex Fulmer herself.

“If you mess with me, it’ll be me then Parker,” she said.

Fulmer can hold her own. Beatson said during games of tap-out, a wrestling game, she is often the winner.

Manager Brian Beatson said he doesn’t treat Fulmer any different from his other players.

“She’s one of the guys, and she gets chewed up the same way,” he said.

The manager admits having Fulmer on the mound is sometimes an advantage. The batters on opposing teams do not want to get struck out by a girl, and they get tense and nervous about the prospect.

Fulmer has tried softball, but she said it is hard switching between the two games.

“The ball comes in like this,” she said as she gestures her hands for the differences in pitching between softball and baseball. “And the other comes in like this.”

Her father, Mike Fulmer, said he will support his daughter playing baseball for as long as she wants to do it.

“She can hang with ’em,” he said.

To contact writer Angela Woolen, call 923-5650.