Skip to main content

Caleb Liegey - Little League Ambidextrous Pitcher

Liegey played baseball through high school

Caleb Liegey

Caleb Liegey in Little League
Born: January 29, 1995
Hometown: Centralia, Missouri

High School: Centralia High School, Class of 2013
Team: Centralia Panthers

College: Missouri University of Science & Technology

Positions: P, 3B
Bats: Right
Throws: Both, ambidextrous

Glove: Uses two separate gloves for switch pitching.
Dominant Hand: Writes with left-hand

(Moberly, MO Aug, 2008) 13yo Caleb Liegey is an ambidextrous pitcher from Moberly, Missouri. He uses two different gloves and started throwing with both arms when he was 2-years-old. His dad said that it's a gift but in reality, it's a lot of practice that makes him a switch pitcher. Watch the feature story

How he got started:

Caleb played catch in the living room when he was 2-years-old and threw the ball with whatever hand he picked it up the with - according to his dad.

Note: It is natural for young kids to use either hand. Many young kids can throw and catch with either hand. This does not mean that they will be ambidextrous. Hand dominance develops over time. 

Caleb is Cross-dominant

He eats left-handed, bats right-handed and writes left-handed.

Being cross-dominant in baseball has an advantage. When his arm hurts, he switches to the other one. If he is not throwing strikes, then he switches to the other hand to pitch. His dad said, "This is a special thing that you can do. You're gifted in this."

Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and President Harry Truman are just a few of the other ambidextrous names you will recognize.

Cross-dominance is a motor skill manifestation where a person favors one hand for some tasks and the other hand for others. For example, a cross-dominant person might write with the left hand but throw primarily with the right.

Four players on my baseball teams were naturally left-handed, but they learned to throw right-handed so they could play any position. With practice they turned out to be very good pitchers and catchers.


Watch the feature on Blumberg off the Bench TV show

---
Where is Caleb now?

Caleb Leigey pitched for the Centralia High School - Panthers JV baseball team. As a student, he was a member of the Centralia High School chapter of the National Honor Society.

2011
In JV action, Centralia defeated Palmyra 2-0 behind the pitching of Caleb Liegey, Justin Eikel and Chandler Blackwell.   Liegey walked 3 but didn't allow a hit in 2 innings.

2012
In the JV contest, Centralia pounded out 8 hits and 13 runs in 5 innings to win 13-7.  Logan Armontrout got the win for the Panthers on the mound, Caleb Liegey and Tyler Spurling both had 2 hits to lead the offense.

2013
Caleb Liegey graduated from Centralia High School. He plans to attend college at either Missouri SLT or Truman State.

Hobies: Hunting, baseball and basketball.
Senior Class - Questions and Answers

#5 Caleb Liegey is listed on Game Changer as Bats Right / Throws Right



Caleb Liegey | Facebook


---

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pitchers Glove Rules - Size and Color

What are the rules on a pitchers glove? According to the official baseball rules, a pitchers glove can be up to 12 inches in size , of any weight , and any color except white or gray as long as it is not distracting.  The Akadema ABX-00 glove, pictured above, is 12 inches,  solid black and is not distracting according to local umpires. Little League Rules Gray glove is not allowed for pitching  White glove is not allowed for pitching Little League Rule 1.14: Each fielder, other than the first baseman and the catcher may wear a glove not more than 12 inches long nor more than 7 3/4 inches wide, measured from the base of the thumb crotch to the outer edge of the glove. The glove may be of any weight. Little League Rule  1.15 (a) : The pitcher's glove may not, exclusive of the piping, be white or light gray, nor, in the judgment of an umpire, distracting in any manner. (source: Little League Baseball Rules Regarding Bats and Gloves ...

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 recor...

Baseball Glove Options for Switch Pitchers

Custom made  Mizuno ambidextrous glove Looking for a glove for a switch pitcher? Before spending hundreds of dollars on a custom glove, please think about age of the player and how much time they will spend pitching. Here are glove options for ambidextrous pitchers, based on age: Age 3-5 Kids don't pitch at this age. They should be learning the proper way to throw. Young kids should try catching the ball with two hands. Use tennis balls or foam balls for throwing. Forget about the low quality plastic glove - it's in the landfill within a year. Gloves are awkward for young kids. If they learn two hand catch when they are young and continue with the skill, they will do well fielding balls when they are older. Learning to throw with both arms is easy at this stage. If a child can throw with either hand when they are three-years-old, it doesn't mean that they are talented or ambidextrous - it just means that they are a typical kid. Gloves:  Buy a smal...