STRATFORD — The girls from the local youth softball team in Allentown, Pa., would have to leave early Tuesday night. They just wanted a few autographs between games of a doubleheader. Their hometown Philadelphia Force had said no.

There in the clutch, as always this season, was Connecticut Brakettes pitcher Sarah Pauly. She called the team over, had the Brakettes sign. Guess who the local kids rooted for in Game 2? "I was so happy they stayed a couple of innings," Pauly said. "It wasn't our home field, and we had people from that area cheering for us."

By the way, while Pauly coordinated the autograph session, she was about to warm up to pitch the second game. After trumping the Force off the field, all Pauly did was pitch a four-hitter on the field, capping her 15-5 regular season that included a National Pro Fastpitch-leading 1.24 ERA. "Here's a superstar girl, going to pitch the next game, and she took the time to sign autographs for the kids," said Brakettes manager John Stratton, who got a glowing e-mail from the youth team's coach. "She's a super kid. She doesn't know she's a superstar."

The Brakettes knew they had something special in Pauly when she arrived last year to pitch as an amateur. This season, as the team joined the NPF, she has fulfilled every expectation.

She will likely pitch tonight as the Brakettes meet the defending champion Akron Racers in the NPF semifinals, tonight at 7:30 at DeLuca Field. "My first season in the pro league,

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it's a chance to show people who I am and what I'm capable of accomplishing," Pauly said. "I'm not quite sure it put me on the map."

One wonders what Pauly, a Phoenix resident, has to do to get on the radar for the U.S. national team. She has never heard at all from the powers behind the team. "That's been my goal since I was a little girl," Pauly said. "Everyone says it, but since I started pitching, it has been a dream of mine to get on the USA Olympic team. That's kind of what my goal for the season was."

Stratton, a pitching guru, has championed her cause to no avail. "I've spoken to the people who run the radar, and they're not convinced about her yet. That bothers me a lot," Stratton said. "I told them she's better than some of the pitchers they have. She's still learning."

Pauly attended Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, far from the West-Coast political center of softball, which set her behind her peers to start, even though she racked up 1,636 strikeouts for the Islanders.

"All of a sudden she's not any good. I guess they forgot Phil Simms came from Morehead State," Stratton said. "It's better for us. We have her."

Tonight, she'll face a tough Akron lineup. If the Brakettes survive, it's possible Stratton could go right back to Pauly, though Nikki Myers' success against Chicago earlier this month might color his thinking if the Bandits and Brakettes were to meet in the final. Pauly would be raring to go, especially now that massage sessions have helped loosen up a forearm muscle that tightens up on her curveball. "It feels like it did in college, brand-new again," Pauly said. After this weekend, she'll be off to play in Perth, Australia, for the next five months, giving pitching lessons on the side. A month off, and she'll be back in Stratford again. Stratton wants her to work on the changeup and a different curveball, along with her dropball, to go with a strong riseball. "She's as good as anybody," Stratton said. "She's got a lot of pitches. When the drop is working, she's untouchable. When it's not working, she struggles a bit."

Struggles have been rare this season, as the Brakettes seek a first pro title to go with, now, 27 amateur championships. "It's been in the Brakettes' history to win all the time," Pauly said. "Our amateurs won again this year. It would be very big to win this season."