Recently, a teenager has taken baseball by storm and SURPRISE -- it's a girl! Sixteen-year-old year old short stop from France, Melissa Mayeux, has been chasing after the dream to play MLB baseball since she was five. She never thought that, at 16, she would start breaking down the barriers that had been preventing her from playing.

After watching her brother train and play baseball, she decided she wanted to do everything the same as him. While most girls at the age of three were playing with Barbie dolls and dresses, Mayeux was doing things a little different. She started training, at the age of three, to play in her first championship game at the age of five. All through her youth teams, she remained the only girl to stick with baseball. However, French federation rule barred girls from playing with boys after the age of 15.

"I wouldn't listen. It just made me more determined to continue to change things," Mayeux recalled in an interview with the Billings Gazette. Neither could Didier Seminet bear to listen to it. He became the president of the French federation in 2010, and began making changes that would effect Mayeux. The inequality in sports remains normalized due to it often being overlooked -- until athletes like Mayeux remind others of the obstacles that women have to face.

Now, at the age of 16, Melissa Mayeux has made her way to being the first woman ever on Major League Baseball's international list, which has made her eligible to be signed by two professional teams. She still wonders where this will take her. She has big dreams that seem to be happening for her, yet there are still more barriers for her to bring down. She hopes to catch the eyes of team scouts at an elite MLB European camp in August, where she will get the chance to work with Hall of Fame shortstop, Barry Larkin. She still dreams of becoming the first female MLB player, but she understands there are many more barriers.

"I think there are people who oppose the idea of a girl being signed as a pro, one day. But they have not seen me play, they don't know me. I hope I can change their mind. All I want is to play at the highest level I can, have fun, and just keep moving forward," she said at the end of her interview with the Billings Gazette.

I believe she is changing minds every time her story is heard. Mayeux has become more than just a young woman breaking barriers to become part of MLB teams, she has also become an inspiration and role model to all girls who have the dream of becoming professional ball players, and for women to see that they can do whatever they put their minds to.

So, Melissa Mayeux -- here's to you! Keep doing what you're doing. You have billions of people behind you!