There was a new recruit on the mound for the Gatemen on Sunday night, returning triumphantly from injury to throw out one of the game's first pitch.

She wasn't thrilled with her performance - trying to convince the catcher to let her do it again - but the crowd cheered nonetheless for the new ace, whose name is "Nana" and who is 99-and-1/2-years old.

It was an opportunity for which Nana's been training for months.  She goes to the Y every Monday through Friday with her grandson Michael Sylvia and every Saturday with her granddaughter Carrie Sylvia.  Three days a week, Dick Dias donates his time to work with Nana, and she also attends the senior stretch class.

"We have to go early so that we can sit and chat with everybody, right Nana?" Sylvia said.

"We're a bunch of old nuts" in the class, Nana replied. "If somebody isn't there, they want to know what they missed."

She is proud to be able to spend 20 minutes at level three on the exercise bike, and she spends lots of time walking around the track - "we're trying get it so it's not just me and that stick," she said, pointing at her walker.  She recommends using the stretch "spider-web," too.

It's quite a recovery for Nana, who spent her 99th birthday in surgery for a broken hip.  She'll spend her 100th birthday at the doctors office for a follow-up appointment before a family celebration (she has allowed them to celebrate this birthday, the last big celebration was for her 80th).  But neither she or her family is worried.

They say she's in better shape than he has been for years, and her posture has improved noticeably.

Interestingly, Nana said that she never was much into athletics or exercise.  While growing up in New Bedford, she said she enjoyed rollerskating. But she didn't get to do it too often - her father forbade it.

"It wore out the soles of your shoes, you know," Nana explained.

But she did plenty of walking.  After sewing pages at her husband's book-binding shop, she would walk all over town to pick up her children at their various activities.  And there was always a child that needed care - if not one of her own six children, then the children of relatives - hers is a big family with a history of twins, long-living relatives, and adoption.  Nana was the first person in Massachusetts to get custody of a great-grandchild over 30 years ago.

"The judge took a look at me and said, 'yep, she can do it,'" Nana recalled.

And the house was always full.  At one point her father's two cousins lived in the house; one was a nun, the other was a fortune teller.  Nana and her siblings would eavesdrop on the fortune-telling sessions and report to the nun - who would take them to church to pray.

All told, there are over 140 living relatives, many of whom - grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, great-grandchildren, uncles, in-laws - were on hand cheer Nana in her Cape Cod League debut.

And while she may not have been pleased with her pitch, she loved having her many relatives and their kids to visit with as she watched the game.

"See, she's happy now, she's got all the kids around," said Sylvia.

And those are Nana's favorite fans.