Central Magnet pitcher throws with either arm

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 ambidextrous pitcher.

"I just decided in third grade I wanted to be able to throw with both hands," said Touchton, who uses a glove with two thumbs so he doesn't need to swap out on the mound. "It was a bit awkward at first — probably not as much had I not already been somewhat split in what I did with my left hand."

Touchton entered Wednesday's doubleheader with Smith County garnering a 5-1 record on the mound. He has a 1.36 ERA with three complete games and two shutouts in 25 ²/₃ innings pitched. He's struck out 32 batters and walked six.

He's done all but an inning of it as a right-handed pitcher. Last week he threw an inning left-handed in a 24-0 win over York Institute.

"We knew he had that capability," Central Magnet coach Jason Patterson said. "The problem you run into is that you don't get new warm-up time for your other arm if you switch. We did it a little in the summer."

Patterson acknowledged that presently Touchton is best used as a right-handed pitcher.

However, as he continues to build his pitch count up in his left arm, it is a growing option. Patterson said Touchton is a different style of pitcher as a lefty. He throws more three-quarter, almost sidearmed.

"As a reliever left-handed (during the summer), he was pretty filthy at times," Patterson said.

Rare arm

Touchton is believed to be the lone switch pitcher in the high school ranks in Tennessee. Former TSSAA Executive Director Ronnie Carter said he cannot recall a Tennessee high school pitcher capable of pitching with either hand.

Being able to throw either way doesn't give Touchton extra advantages regarding how many innings he can pitch in a week as the TSSAA's rules address the player, not the arm being used.

The high school association's rules stipulate that "no player may pitch more than 10 innings on consecutive days. After one day's rest, a pitcher may again pitch as many as 10 innings on consecutive days."

Also, Touchton must decide prior to an at-bat if he will throw left-handed or right-handed. He cannot change during an at-bat if a batter is a switch hitter. Touchton must wait until that batter is either out, reaches base, is switched out or the third out of an inning is reached before changing throwing arms.

Despite that, Touchton believes he has an advantage on the mound against his competition.

"I think it definitely psychs people out that I can throw anyway I want to," he said. "Left-handed hitters often times don't hit left-handed pitchers well. Sometimes right-handed hitters don't hit left-handed pitchers well.

"We don't do it unless we see a definite advantage to throwing left handed. But it's always there that I can pull out of the bag."

While switch pitchers are extremely rare at the high school level, the Nashville Sounds have an ambidextrous pitcher in Pat Venditte, who is entering his eighth season of professional baseball.

"I've heard a lot about him," Touchton said of Venditte. "I started following him when I saw an original story about him in 2011.

"I'm hoping to see a game in Nashville, maybe have (Barry) Zito pitching and Venditte come in relief. We'll see what happens."

Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.