Dudley pulls off rare double switch
Atlantic Shores freshman pitches, hits from both sides in the same game
CHESAPEAKE — Patrick Dudley, a natural left-handed pitcher, was probably around 8 years old when he started playfully throwing with his right arm.
He continued flirting with it throughout his youth baseball career.
But Dudley, now a freshman at Atlantic Shores Christian, has always wanted to try it in a game.
Atlantic Shores coach Phillip Kojack knew only a small number of baseball players at any level had pitched from both sides on the mound in the same game and also wanted Dudley to give it a try.
“I told him, ‘Imagine how many of those people have actually batted from both sides of the plate in the same game, too.’ ” Kojack said. “I told him, ‘I betcha there’s no stat for it.’ And so I said, ‘Let’s do it and make history.’ And he was ready.”
On Monday, Dudley — also a switch-hitter — accomplished the feat on the mound with his arm(s), and also batted from both sides of the plate in a regular-season victory over Broadwater Academy.
“I’ve always been a good lefty,”
Dudley said. “I told Coach that I could throw strikes if he put me out there. It’s not going to be fast, but I can throw it down the middle.”
How rare are switch pitchers? According to switchpitching. blogspot.com, there is one ambidextrous pitcher per 22,500 high school players.
Pat Venditte is recognized as the only switch pitcher to make the major leagues. He regularly threw both ways as a relief pitcher with multiple teams from 20152020.
Dudley, a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder, is regarded as one of the top freshmen in the nation. He was named to the 2021 Northeast Top Prospect Games Top Prospect List and has verbally committed to South Carolina.
On Monday, Dudley, normally a right-handed hitter, got his at-bats in early, batting left-handed in the fourth inning.
Then it was time for him to take the mound in the fifth inning.
“I was like, ‘Why not?’ We were up 20-1,” he said. “So, if I’m going to do it, it’s going to be then.”
Pitching righty, Dudley walked the first batter. Then he switched gloves and threw lefty. He struck out the next batter and got the last batter to pop out.
“It was kind of weird because it was the first time that I did it,” said Dudley, who throws around 70 mph from the right side, but revs it up to 87 from the left side. “The parents from the other team thought it was funny. After I walked the first guy and then switched and threw much harder and struck out the second guy, they were like, ‘You can just stay righty. We don’t need you lefty.’ ”
Senior catcher Jacob Pantak had watched Dudley throw from both sides in practice.
“When he came out and did it in the game, it was crazy,” he said. “But he’s special. He showed up and did his thing and looked good.”
So will Dudley try it again?
“If we can get up big, then I would definitely like to do it again,” he said. “But at this point, probably not. South Carolina wants me as a lefty. They don’t even know that I can throw righty. I’ll probably tell them the next time.”