Switch Pitching 101

California High School (Class of 2016) Coal Center, PA Ht/Wt:  6ft, 180 Primary Position: Shortstop Secondary Position:  Pitcher Throws: Both (primarily right-handed) Bats: Right Gloves:  uses two different gloves for pitching Louden Conte is a starting shortstop who has the ability to pitch both ways - lefty and righty. As a typical middle infielder, he is naturally right-handed. How he got starter throwing with both arms ... Conte's attempt at ambidextrous pitching began four years ago, after he had surgery on his right shoulder. He started by tossing a tennis ball off a wall with his left hand, then used a rubber baseball to play catch with his father, Cal (Pa.) University baseball coach Mike Conte. And he pitched a whiffle ball to his younger brother, Payton. (triblive.com) Class A baseball preview: Woodburn next pitcher up at Cal By Lance Lysowski, observer-reporter.com, 24 March 2015 Junior Louden Conte, who batted .507 with 26 RBI, 14 stolen bases

What are the chances of a switch pitcher playing college baseball? Pat Venditte - Switch Pitching for Creighton University The chances are very good for a switch pitcher to play in college. Most ambidextrous pitchers attend D1 universities. But since ambidextrous athletes are versatile baseball players and typically good hitters ... they are more likely to field a position, than to pitch in college. College Bound Student-Athletes -  Ambidextrous pitchers are usually very good students and  extremely hard workers , so the majority go on to attend college – on academic scholarships. Most of the starting high school switch pitchers have the command and velocity needed to play baseball  in college at some level. They also have the positive attitude, work ethic, coachability, and character that college coaches value. Be Proactive and Contact Coaches However, colleges coaches aren't spending their valuable time recruiting switch pitchers, so players must be proactive a

Connor Clark Lubbock HS – Lubbock, TX (2016) Connor Clark (Photo: Baseball Factory) Postions: Catcher, RHP/LHP Throws: Both  Bats: Both Clark is primarily a right-handed catcher, who has the ability to throw with both arms. He is athletic with a good pop time. Connor Clark Switch-Hits and Switch-Pitches in Northwest Texas Andy Ferguson, April 1, 2015 Connor Clark  did a little bit of everything on Sunday March 15 at Wayland Baptist University in Planview, TX — as the Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout tour rolled through Northwest Texas, with a stop in the Lubbock area. As if it weren’t enough to be a switch-hitting catcher, he also jumped on the mound and threw pitches as both a right and left-hander. As a position player, his tools were solid to above-average pretty much across the board.  His tools fell off when he got on the mound, especially left-handed, but it was impressive nonetheless to see a switch-pitcher (I’m not really sure that’s exac

Ambidextrous eighth-grader Wil LaFollette turning heads as a switch pitcher for Cornerstone By Jeff Sentell | jsentell@al.com on April 23, 2015 Wil LaFollette raised eyebrows when he joined the Cornerstone Christian varsity baseball team this season. The 13-year-old eighth-grader had enough stuff to eventually nail down the No. 4 pitcher’s role for the Alabama Independent Schools Association's Class A team. But the whispers and conversations did not center on that. “They heard and saw where Will had a six-fingered baseball glove,” Cornerstone Christian head baseball coach Tim Smith said. “Naturally everyone wanted to know if he really had six fingers." It wasn’t that, but it fell in the ballpark of abnormalities in Abner Doubleday’s great game. LaFollette is a baseball unicorn who will take the mound and face hitters throwing with his left hand. Then he’ll switch pitch and throw with his right hand. He’ll throw three-quarters from the left side, bu

Ambidextrous Pitcher Found  Michigan State Coach Enthusiastic Over New York State Youth. Shamokin News-Dispatch (Shamokin, PA) 7 Mar 1935 A rare oddity of baseball - an ambidextrous pitcher - has been uncovered at Michigan State College by Coach John Kobs, head mentor of the sport at the institution. He is Kazimer Nevulis, a sophomore twirler form Amsterdam, N.Y., who aspires to become a fixture of the state mound staff during the forthcoming season. And in the words of Coach Kobs: "He not only throws with both hands, but pitches with both." The Amsterdam sophomore has a varied assortment, which he serves up from the right side, while his delivery from the port side is limited to a fast ball and curves. In his words: "I pitched better with the right." While Nevulis is not the first pitcher to throw the ball up to the plate from both sides, Coach Kobs is inclined to believe his ability is more equally divided. As a freshman he played the infield for

Recent news about ambidextrous pitcher Alex Trautner from California.    Alexander Trautner (2014)  Ambidextrous PItcher Danville, California RHP = 87 mph, LHP = 83 mph College: Creighton University Summer Team: Neptune Beach Pearl @TrautNotTrout Ambidextrous Switch Pitcher Alex Trautner from Creighton University will be returning to the Pearl for the 2015 Season! — Neptune Beach Pearl (@nbpearlbaseball) April 14, 2015 New Bluejay pitcher brings back Venditte's versatility - Omaha.com Check out Trautner's custom 6-finger Mizuno glove in Creighton colors! Still in awe of the new leather #AmbiLife #RainbowTraut #Psalm27 :1 pic.twitter.com/CJwdLFrAoS — Traut Daddy (@TrautNotTrout) April 4, 2015 Ambidextrous pitching videos Alexander Trautner @ Stanford Alexander Trautner @ Stanford All-Star Baseball Camp Alexander Trautner - Danville Bulls 18u Alexander Trautner  - YouTube Alex Trautner Chooses Creighton - HS Sports Dail

BHP James Touchton (Photo: Helen Comer/Gannett Tennessee) James Touchton Central Magnet High School (Class of 2017) Murfreesboro, Tennessee Ht/Wt: 6-3, 165 lbs. Bats: Right Throws: Both (primarily right-handed) Velocity: 82 mph (perfectgame.org 2016; 77 mph in 2015) Glove: Custom 6-finger Mizuno Glove, with two thumb slots Stats 5-1 record in 2015 32:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio Primarily pitches right-handed in games. In fact, he only pitched one inning left-handed. ... Central Magnet’s Touchton excels as switch pitcher Tom Kreager, Gannett Tennessee | April 15, 2015 MURFREESBORO – Central Magnet sophomore pitcher James Touchton has always done a few things left-handed. He wrote and threw frisbees as a southpaw. However, throwing a baseball and football were always reserved for his stronger right hand. That, though, has changed in recent years. Touchton, who has become the Tigers’ ace of the pitching staff this season, has become an ambidextrou

Players focus on dynamic warm-up and stretching before they start throwing a baseball. Switch Pitcher Workouts on YouTube >> Dynamic Warm-Up Routine To get the blood flowing, start with a jog then increase to running  Warm-up focuses on groin, hamstrings, quads, hip flexors and core, 2x 20 yards for each exercise - skip forward / skip backward - walking lunges - side lunges, left / right - hops - carioca left / right - hurdle kicks - high knees - move sideways - shuffle step - back peddle Phillies Jimmy Rollins Dynamic Warmup Baseball Workout - video Features some of the exercises mentioned above. 15 minute baseball dynamic Warmup Stretching Routine Static stretching is done in a team circle, with a different player leading each exercise. Focus on arms, legs and core. - arm circles (small, medium and large circles; forward/backward - see video) - arm stretch, crossed over chest - arm overhead stretch with elbow bent 90 degrees - leg