Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin showed off her skills with a flipping windup on her first pitch

The same rules that govern pitching in a regulation baseball game do not apply to ceremonial first pitches. Balk rules in particular do not apply to ceremonial first pitchers. They don't need to even pitch from the mound, let alone maintain contact with the rubber during delivery.
Olympic gold medialist in gymnastics Nastia Liukin took advantage of that relaxation of the rules during her first pitch prior to the Cubs' 4-1 win Tuesday night against the Giants.

Though the somersault brought her about halfway to home plate, she was unable to throw a strike as her pitch sailed a bit high. If we were in the business of awarding execution scores for first pitches -- which, in this instance, we are -- Liukin would receive a 9 for the windup and delivery and a 7 for the pitch itself.