Watching Luke Moberley field a ground ball at shortstop, or casually throw the ball back to the pitcher from behind the plate, it seems like something isn’t right.

It’s left.

Moberley is a skilled utility player for Tallulah Academy who is also left-handed. That part isn’t unusual, but a couple of his frequent positions — shortstop and catcher — are. Few left-handers play at those spots, and the ones who do it as well as this eighth-grader are even more rare.

“It draws some attention. That’s not normal, right?” Tallulah Academy head coach Ryan Williams said. “But he fills a lot of roles and responsibilities for us. We’re a very young team. He’s a very young player himself. But his baseball I.Q. is up there. Luke pushes them to be the best and that’s what any coach wants.”

The defensive mechanics of baseball make it awkward for left-handers to play in the infield. Left-handers have to turn their entire bodies to throw to first base, which takes an extra split-second that can mean the difference in a runner being out and safe.

Because of that, left-handers very rarely play any of the infield positions besides first base and pitcher.

“You’ve got to flip your hips around to make plays. And it’s just the wrong side. It’s hard to slap tags down. Turning double plays you have to flip your hips. I’ve just got to make sure of the quick hips,” Moberley said.

The last left-handed catcher in Major League Baseball was Pittsburgh’s Benny Distefano in 1989. A few have played some games, but there are no full-time left-handed shortstops or third basemen on record since at least 1900.

Moberley, who has always been one of the better players on his various youth and travel ball teams, said he’s simply grown up playing the infield. While he knows it’s unusual, he didn’t think much of it.

“I’ve been playing it since peewee because we never really had anybody to play there,” he said. “It started (with Tallulah) in seventh grade. All of a sudden the third baseman wasn’t playing good. They stuck me there, I did good, and I’ve kept going ever since.”

Moberley has added catching to his repertoire since joining the varsity team in 2023. Tallulah’s normal catcher, Tripp Gayle, is also one of its starting pitchers. When Gayle is pitching, Moberley catches.

“Different pitchers like different catchers,” Williams said. “Tripp and him have been working a lot when Luke is pitching and Tripp is catching. We rotated them out one game and he did fantastic behind the plate. He can really fill any gap you need him to.”

Luckily, Moberley had a rare piece of equipment to fill that gap — a left-handed catcher’s mitt. He stumbled across one during his baseball travels and snatched it up, not knowing if it would ever be more than a novelty item.

“I was at the sports complex with travel ball and I found it. Glad I did,” he said with a laugh.

Like with playing the infield, Moberley said there are some physical mechanics that need to be adjusted to play catcher. Throwing around right-handed hitters, for example, is a bit tricky.

“It’s pretty hard because when people are stealing the batters get in the way of your arm slot,” Moberley said. “You’ve just got to make sure you really get out there.”

Although he often plays those positions, it’s hard to label Moberley as a left-handed shortstop or catcher. He shifts around the field so often that he’s the definition of a utility player.

He pitches and has a 4.10 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings after the Trojans beat Tensas Academy 12-6 in Game 1 of second-round MAIS Class 2A playoff series on Monday. Games 2 and 3 are scheduled as a doubleheader Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. in Tallulah.

Moberley also plays center field and left field, and has played third base, second base and first base as needed. At one time or another he’s played every position on the field.

“I think last year he played first and two weeks ago I had him slide in at second just to fill a void. He’s an athlete. You can put him anywhere,” Williams said.

Moberley has been just as good at the plate. As the Trojans’ leadoff hitter, he is batting .500 with nine doubles, 19 RBIs and 49 runs scored in 29 games. He’s become a baseball Swiss Army knife who can do anything, which is backed up by one more odd but fitting trait — he’s a switch-hitter.

“It’s huge. As a coach, it takes a breath away from you where you don’t have to overthink it. You can plug your guy in and never miss a beat,” Williams said. “Being a small school like Tallulah, we don’t have the opportunity to have 15 different studs in the dugout. But he can fill any void we need.”

MAIS CLASS 2A PLAYOFFS
Tallulah Academy vs. Tensas Academy
April 28 – Tallulah Academy 12, Tensas Academy 6
May 1 – Tensas Academy at Tallulah Academy, 4 p.m.
x-May 1 – Tensas Academy at Tallulah Academy, 6:30 p.m.