Round's Lake Sanchez savors a last season of left-handed catching

Baseball is nothing if not a game of tradition.

And traditionally, catchers aren't left-handed.

It's rare to see left-handed catchers at any level, particularly in college and the major leagues. They're almost unheard of in high school, too.

There's a small nuance in the game that suggests that left-handed catchers are at a disadvantage. And because of that, catchers have almost always been right-handed. That's just the way baseball has always done it.

Round Lake catcher Tyler Sanchez plays that off.

He's left-handed, and says he's doing just fine.

"It feels pretty natural to me," Sanchez, a senior, says of catching left-handed. "It's not as hard as people think it is."

The hard part, as it has always been perceived, is the catcher's throw to third base when a runner is stealing from second. A left-handed catcher has to make an extra step to get around a right-handed batter and then square up for the throw.

Sometimes an extra tenth of a second is all a baserunner needs to successfully steal a base.

"You're kind of blocked a bit (by the batter) and you need to turn 180 degrees and take that extra step," Sanchez said. "It makes the throw to third base tougher, but you can do it."

Sanchez got the opportunity to prove that at the high school level only recently.

He was a catcher all through youth baseball, defying the "odds." But when he got to high school and made the varsity as a freshman, he was turned into a pitcher and first baseman.

"I knew it wasn't common to see left-handed catchers," Sanchez said. "Plus, we had some really good catchers already in the program."

One of those catchers was Sanchez's older brother Alex, a right-hander who graduated last year.

In fact, the Panthers lost two solid catchers to graduation last year in Alex and John Ridley.

Finding a new catcher for this season was proving difficult. Round Lake coach Ed Adamson tried a handful of players behind the plate and was have trouble finding a good it.

A couple of weeks into the season, Sanchez, who was playing first base at the time, volunteered to play catcher.

"He's head and shoulders our best catcher," Adamson said of Sanchez. "It's just a little weird having him there."

Adamson says that in the last five years, he's seen one or two left-handed catchers start against his team. Sanchez is good enough to be in that rare company.

"He just wants to compete," Adamson said of Sanchez. "It's been great for us, because we've needed his leadership. If you don't have a good catcher, it's hard to compete."

Sanchez has made an immediate impact from his position behind the plate. He takes his responsibilities there very seriously.

"You feel like you have a little bit of control of what's happening when you're catching," Sanchez said. "And it's a great way to see the game. You're calling out plays, helping with the decisions that are being made, you're trying to understand situations and help your teammates understand. You're trying to be a leader."

Sanchez says he feels at home, and back in his comfort zone behind the plate. But he'll be on the move again once his career at Round Lake is over.

He will be playing baseball next year at Aurora University and will likely be used as a pitcher and first baseman. He doubts there will ever be a circumstance in which Aurora would need him to play catcher.

"I missed playing catcher (earlier in high school), and I actually thought about asking for a chance there before this," said Sanchez, who will be majoring in computer science at Aurora. "It feels nice that I could be a catcher for one last year before I go to college."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

• Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw