Ambidexterous Anthony Seigler a weapon

 

Ambidexterous Anthony Seigler a weapon for Cartersville

 

By Tim Morse

Georgia Dugout Preview

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Former Cartersville catcher Elliott Berrey will never forget the afternoon he was warming up with freshman pitcher Anthony Seigler last spring in right field.

“I could never figure out which arm he was throwing from,” said Berrey, now attending school at Kennesaw State. “I didn’t know how he did it.”

Berrey had forgotten Seigler was ambidexterous and he certainly didn’t know that the freshman pitcher had a six-finger glove which gave him the ability to throw with his left hand, then change and throw with his right hand.

“It was a different adjustment at first when he came in to pitch,” Berrey said. “His curve ball was different from his left side, but then again, so were all of his pitches. But he was just as good from the right side too.”

Seigler helped Cartersville to the Class AAAA state semifinals last season, finishing with a 9-3 record and 2.12 ERA in 62 2/3 innings. He will be a major weapon for the Hurricanes this spring because of his ability to dominate with both arms. He and senior right-hander Elliott Anderson are expected to form a lethal duo that should help the Hurricanes make a deep postseason run.

“You throw Anthony in there and you can count it as three pitchers,” Chester told the Daily Tribune News of Cartersville recently. “I think good pitching beats good hitting, and hopefully, we can stay healthy and have that this year.”

Seigler, known for his humor, has fun with his ambidexterous ability.

“Coach has asked him, ‘Anthony, how is your arm feeling?’ ” Berrey said. “And he would say stuff like, ‘Which one?’ He’s funny like that.”

The sophomore hurler may be ambidexterous but he is also versatile. He is also a switch-hitter and batted second in the lineup last season where he hit .283 with a .437 on-base percentage, 27 runs scored and 19 RBIs. He can also play a variety of positions. Last year, he mainly pitched and played second-base, but those positions could expand this season.

When he arrives to practice, Seigler has as many as five gloves in bag.

“One for when I pitch left-handed, one when I pitch right-handed, one when I play second-base and coach told me I might catch some this year,” Seigler said. “Then I have a glove for playing in the outfield. I change gloves when I pitch right now, but coach told me I will probably need to use the six-finger glove more this year.”

He said he likes pitching left-handed the most because he has more movement on his pitches. But he tries to choose the side he will pitch from before he starts the game.

Seigler was clocked throwing 85 miles per hour from the left side last year and 86 from the right side.

“Everybody has always found it to be unique that I could throw from both sides,” Seigler said. “They looked at is as a positive. They never tried to fix it, they just let me be me.”

After Berrey realized Seigler’s unique pitching ability, he was glad that Seigler was on his team.