Baseball TV show Pitch has been cancelled by Fox after only one season.
Airing on Global TV in Canada and starring first-time lead Kylie Bunbury, who hails from Hamilton, Ont., the series never quite caught on with audiences despite its original premise.
Pitch followed the fictional journey of Ginny Baker, an ace pitcher making her debut in Major League Baseball — a.k.a. the first woman to ever play in an official game. The drama took place on and off the field, as Ginny also developed a romance with her catcher (Saved By the Bell‘s Mark-Paul Gosselaar).
READ MORE: Kylie Bunbury, Canadian Pitch star, talks breakout leading role
The show, while highly anticipated and compelling, didn’t catch, and ratings week-over-week never improved. Pitch averaged about three million viewers per episode.
Following Season 1’s 10 episodes, Fox never went ahead with a back order, signalling the end of the series.
Executive producer Kevin Falls tweeted the cancellation announcement on Monday night.
Fans on Twitter started chatter about a possible fan-inspired renewal (there’s even a hashtag, #SavePitch), while others rued the decline of female-centred TV shows in primetime.
Bunbury, for her part, was clearly devastated at the cancellation news. She posted a touching photo of herself at the San Diego Padres’ Petco Park, where the pilot of Pitch was shot.
During an interview with Global News prior to the show’s premiere, Bunbury was very optimistic about the show’s prospects and was proud of what it could offer to women and girls around the world.
WATCH: Kylie Bunbury talks Canadian roots with Pitch co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar
“I think it’s going to be a really great thing for young girls and women to see,” she said at the time. “To feel inspired and empowered, to know that you can do anything you set your mind to. All you need is heart, work ethic and to dream big. Continue to dream big and know that it’s attainable. I think it’s important for us to see things like this on TV, too, to see women breaking barriers and beating the odds. It’ll be a powerful and positive message. This show is a lot bigger than all of us.”
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