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Former “American Idol” contestant Ayla Brown can sing and shoot hoops, but can she throw a baseball? All will be revealed on Saturday, when the nearly 6-foot-tall 17-year-old returns to the Seacoast, where she has vacationed since childhood, to sing the national anthem and throw one of the first pitches during the Portsmouth Little League opening ceremony.

Brown, who will be attending Boston College in the fall on a basketball scholarship, has agreed to attend the opening ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, according to Jeannie Courrier, vice president of the Portsmouth Little League.

“It’s great to have her come here and have the public, who have been reading all about her, have an opportunity to come and meet her,” Courrier said.

Brown, who has family living on the Seacoast, was the sixth of 12 young women to be eliminated from the search of the 2006 “American Idol.”

 Courrier said Seacoast residents spent many hours in front of the television watching the show and rooting for the “celebrity with local ties.” Brown lives in Wrentham, Mass., but her aunt Lee Ann Riley of Portsmouth contacted her recently to ask if she would sing to those in Portsmouth who supported her, Courrier said.

“She was open to this,” Courrier said, adding that Brown also agreed to stay and sign autographs after her performance. Kathie Lynch, president of the Portsmouth Little League, said the league always makes an effort to have a talented singer perform at the opening ceremonies, but Brown is “beyond shadow of a doubt, probably the most well-known by the American public.”

The ceremony will also include recognition of the 12-year-olds in the league who will play their last year, Lynch said. Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand will also attend the ceremony to throw out the first pitch.

The league, made up of 17 teams with 12 players on each team, will honor a volunteer who has been an great asset over the years, Lynch said. “And then we say ‘Play ball.’”

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