By Michael Moreci In Josh Ludy’s first at bat as a freshman playing on the varsity team, he crushed a home run over the left field fence. Since then, the Jay County catcher has repeated that power stroke 22 times in three seasons—good enough to tie a school record. His twelve homers last season shattered his school’s single season record. What amazes coach Lea Selvey the most is not only the feat, but the manner in which Ludy did it. “What’s really impressive is that he did it from both sides of the plate,” Selvey said. “He’s the best switch-hitter I’ve seen in high school.” For Ludy, learning how to hit from both sides of the plate was a quality he wanted to learn just to increase his visibility. "Left-handed hitters get hyped up a lot," Ludy said. "I always messed around with trying to learn, so after my sophomore season I got to it." Switch-hitting catchers with a clean, smooth power stroke and a sub-2 pop time are a rare (and prized) commodity. That’s probably why the 5-foot-9, 195-pound Ludy is considered one of the best catchers in the state and is verbally committed to Baylor. Last season, he hit .488 with 41 RBI and 12 doubles in addition to his 12 homers. Ludy likes to chalk his achievements up more to hard work than raw talent. “I’m not the most athletic guy out there,” Ludy said. “I knew I’d have to work harder than most people.” Selvey also admires Ludy’s work ethic, though he also attests some of his young standout’s success to his dedication. Ludy’s a workhorse, but he’s also a student of the game—a quality Selvey picked up on back in Ludy’s freshman year when he allowed him call his own games from behind the dish. Since that initial season, Selvey has watched Ludy evolve. “Every year he’s taken an aspect of his game and improved it,” Selvey said. “Junior year he wanted to get better at switch-hitting; now he does it full time.” As modest as Ludy is, his talent is immeasurable. Joking, Selvey commented how difficult it was to quantify Ludy’s defensive abilities. “No one runs on him,” Selvey said, laughing. |