In 2012, Kennesaw Mountain High School’s pitching coach approached the manager with an idea: What if they let a true freshman, a 14-year-old catcher, call games from behind the plate?
Usually, a catcher waits to become a professional to begin telling a pitcher what to throw and shaping the game from behind the plate. But this catcher was Tyler Stephenson.
And as a high school baseball player in Kennesaw, Georgia, the game came naturally to him.
“I remember being a freshman in high school, I was 14 years old and my coach told me you’ve got to start calling games because later on that’s what you’re going to be asked to do,” Stephenson said.