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Fastball Velocity - How fast do kids throw?



How fast does a Little League pitcher throw?
The average fastball is between 50-60 mph for a pitcher in the Majors division of Little League (11-13 yo).


Pitchers in the Little League World Series throw fastballs 60-70+ mph. Only a few pitchers touched 70+ mph in 2015 and 2016.

One man-child hit 81 mph on the radar. This velocity is almost unhittable from 46 feet and extremely rare for a 13 year old.

#18 RHP Carlos Gonzalez - Panama
79-81 mph fastball 
105 mph MLB equivalent reaction time

 #18 RHP Jaekyeong Kim - South Korea
75-76 mph fastball

 #19 RHP Ryan Harlost - Mid-Atlantic, Endwell, NY
71-74 mph fastball
Threw a complete game to win the 2016 Little League World Series

 Loreto Siniscalchi, a 6'1" pitcher from Canada, threw in the mid 70s and completely dominated the hitters from Japan. He led Team Canada to its first victory over Japan in 18 years.

 Big right-hander Isaiah Head from Kentucky threw 70-73 mph fastballs. His record was 3-0, 12 IP, 2 ER, 23 K during Regionals and LLWS. He struck out 9 batters in 3 innings using 87 pitches against the Tennessee team.

 A few adult-size 13-year-olds can top out at 75+ mph! 
Little League World Series pitcher Mo'ne Davis threw a 70 mph fastball.

 2015 Little League World Series
RHP Vicent Ogasawara likes throwing inside pitches
13-year-old Vincent Ogasawara, a 5'4" 124 lb RHP for Waipio, Hawaii, was touching 71 mph in the 2015 West Regional facing hard-hitting players from Bonita, CA. This is similar to the reaction time needed to hit a 92 mph fastball in the MLB. 
Ogasawara threw 71 mph in the first inning (source: ESPN)

RHP Jarrett Tadlock from Pearland Texas threw 11 pitches – reaching 72-73 mph – to one batter from Boulder, Colorado. Bach ended the sequence with a bloop single to right field. Tadlock topped out at 73-74 mph in his final game of the series, striking out the best hitter on Mexico's team.

Matthew Wilkinson known as "Tugboat", is a 5'6" 205 lbs LHP who threw his fastball 74-76 mph. Tugboat is one of the best LHP I've seen pitch in the LLWS.

Previous LLWS

 As a 13-year-old, Japan’s 6-foot, 206-pound man-child Kotaro Kiyomiya apparently could touch 80 miles per hour on his fastball in 2012. Read More


 2014 Little League World Series pitcher Mo'ne Davis reached 70 mph with her fastball. Watch the video



Beom-Jun Shin, a 14-year-old RHP from South Korea, was throwing 71 to 73 mph in the LL intermediate division championship game. His curveball was 60-62 mph. Pitchers are allowed to throw 95 pitches in a game at this level.

Can 9-Year Olds Throw a Baseball Forty Five MPH?

Young Little Leaguers can throw 40-50 mph.  Watch the Video
Jeb's pitch speeds are on par with a 9-year-old, who throws an average of 44 mph.
How fast does a high school pitcher throw?

On the average, a typical Varsity high school fastball is between 75-85 mph, although many good Varsity pitchers will be seeing the upper 80s and low 90 range. 

Average Pitching Speeds of Youth Pitchers

An important aspect of pitching which must not be overlooked is velocity. Many pitchers strive to achieve a high velocity, and the fact is that college and MLB scouts look heavily at a pitcher’s fastball velocity. Coaches as young as the Little League age seem to put a lot of emphasis on fastball velocity and how hard a pitcher can throw. For those of you looking to see where your velocity falls in your age group, read on!

(source: thecompletepitcher.com)

Interesting Note...

Dear ESPN: A 77 MPH Little League Fastball Is Not Equivalent To A 100 MPH Major-League Fastball Tommy Craggs 8/20/12
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