By: By: Nick Edsall
One of the most popular young cooks on the current season of MASTERCHEF JUNIOR is the daughter of a former Boston Red Sox pitcher.
Ryan Kate Brandenburg is among the 12 contestants remaining in the kiddie cooking competition after last night’s episode.
Her father, Mark Brandenburg, took the mound at Fenway Park in 1996 and 1997.
“My dad was injured and had to retire from his baseball career before I was born,” Ryan Kate says. “He hurt his shoulder pitching. Now he coaches my brother’s baseball team.
Ryan Kate, 12, says Mark (who now works in real estate) offered to coach her T ball league when she was younger.
“But I quickly tired of it and when I had enough instead of running to the dugout, I would hide in the trash can,” she says. “Luckily it was usually empty.”
The Brandenburg family now lives on a ranch with nine horses in Coppell, Texas.
Check out Ryan Kate’s exclusive interview with TheTVPage.com.
MASTERCHEF JUNIOR airs Tuesdays at 8:00 PM on Fox.