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Austin Stuber - Ambidextrous Pitcher from Iowa

Austin Stuber 
Austin Stuber (photo Katelyn Olvera)

Hometown: Clearfield, Iowa
Lenox High School, Lenox, Iowa

Exercise Science major  (Class of 2015)
Missouri Valley College (MVC) - Vikings
Marshall, MO

Formerly a pitcher at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Positions: Pitcher, SS, 3B
Throws: Both (Ambidextrous)
Velocity: RHP 88 mph; LHP 82 mph

Glove: Akadema six-finger glove (see photo)


How Austin Stuber got started throwing with both arms:

Stuber began pitching in sixth grade as a right-hander, but taught himself to throw left-handed in seventh grade to set himself apart from other pitchers. He spent hours everyday throwing fungo balls, practice balls, at a propane tank behind his house; working on his velocity and movement.
“I wasn’t coached a lot in high school. I learned to pitch mostly from my dad and from instructional DVDs.”  (source: Chase Burgess, mvcdelta.com)
Iowa High School State Baseball Tournament
Austin Stuber played shortstop and third base for the Lenox Tigers in the Iowa State Baseball Tournament in 2009.

Pitching in College

After playing in high school, Stuber went on to play at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. 
Unfortunately, Stuber suffered a torn-labrum in the fall of his sophomore year and missed the entire 2012 season. As a sophomore, Stuber served as a student athletic trainer for the Iowa Western Reivers football team.

Now Stuber is pitching for the Vikings of Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri. See the related story below.

MVC Baseball Throws Opponents a Curve with Ambidextrous Pitcher
Story by Chase Burgess, MVC Delta


Having a switch-hitter on your roster has become the norm in both college and professional baseball, but a switch-pitcher? That’s a different story. Austin Stuber, a junior Exercise Science major from Clearfield, Iowa, is a rare breed of pitcher. Stuber has the ability to pitch both right and left-handed.
“It’s mind blowing to me, seeing a pitcher put the glove on the other hand and throw a strike,” said Riley Schmitz, a freshman from Shelbina, Missouri. Schmitz performs most of the catching duties for Stuber in practice.
Stuber, who has been playing baseball since he was 4 years old, was born a southpaw, but he began throwing right-handed at the age of 5. He threw right-handed for the next seven years until one accidental discovery changed the way he looked at the game of baseball.
Read More

Nine is just enough for Iowa prep baseball squad
By Dan McCool, Des Moines Register, June 23, 2009
Lenox, IOWA — No courtesy runners or pinch-hitters. No bullpen. No room for injuries and no need for a yellow school bus.

Lenox High School's baseball team has been a no-frills winner despite playing with a nine-man roster since June 1.

"There isn't much strategy," Lenox coach Steve Westphal said. "You just put nine guys out there, and if you need to make a pitching change, (the reliever) gets his eight pitches and bang, you keep going. That's happened a couple of times.

"It's almost like coaching a Little League team at times."

The Tigers were already versed in unusual practice times, having to schedule around production of the movie The Crazies, which was shot in Lenox. The movie deals with a small Iowa community whose water supply is contaminated and those who drink it act strangely, Westphal said. 

Read More



WI Baseball: Lenox gets it done — again




DES MOINES — The Terrific Ten are now one win from a delicious double.
Lenox handed Kee High its worst loss in state tournament history — which spans 39 baseball games over 36 years — getting another sterling pitching performance from sophomore Ethan Westphal in an 11-3 Class 1-A semifinal victory Thursday at Principal Park.
The eighth-rated and third-seeded Tigers (23-3), who have just 10 players on their roster, advance to Saturday's noon championship game here against top-rated and top-seeded Mason City Newman (36-1), which blanked Alta 4-0.
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Austin Stuber (stubee_stube) on Twitter


Viking Baseball Team - Missouri Valley College





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