Sports: Great expectations for LaMacchia

Florida State sophomore Marc LaMacchia needed just a few moments to walk from his bullpen to the dugout after warming up for a recent start against national power and Atlantic Coast Conference rival Georgia Tech.

Funny how life can take a dramatic turn in a short time.

"On the way in that day, I really, really challenged Marc," pitching coach Jamey Shouppe said. "I said, 'Marc. You're good. You've got the potential to take your game to a different level. You have the potential to tell a baseball team, not through words but through the way you handle yourself, that, Hey, I'm pitching today and we're going to win because I've got the baseball.' "

Shouppe has stolen those few minutes to deliver similar pep talks countless times before.

He admits he has not always believed it or meant it.

"Sometimes, you don't know if they're good enough to handle that responsibility and truly take that burden of winning and losing on their shoulders," he said. "But Marc's good enough to take that responsibility, and he's got to understand he's good enough to do that."

"It definitely gave me something to go after," said LaMacchia, 20, a former East Lake High star. "It made me step up to the plate and show what I can do."

He showed plenty April 21. The right-hander limited the Yellow Jackets, then No. 6 in the Baseball America poll, to one run on seven hits in six innings as the Seminoles completed a critical three-game sweep with a 13-1 win.

"He obviously did a great job against us," Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said. "He was impressive."

But who didn't expect that from him?

He throws a 90-92 mph fastball and bedeviling changeups and curves. That's why St. Louis drafted him in the 18th round in 2000 after he led East Lake to its first 6A Region appearance. That's why, as a freshman, he moved into FSU's three-man weekend rotation ... until he hit the proverbial wall midway through the year.

LaMacchia began rushing his delivery, a mechanical flaw that not only sped his trip back to the bench but caused a bit of tendinitis in his throwing elbow that kept him there.

Funny how life can take a dramatic turn in a short time.

"That really bothered my season," he said.

And his summer. And even his fall. Shouppe took the precaution of limiting LaMacchia's pitching in the preseason, focusing on altering his mechanics.

Typically a pitcher rocks backward, then like a pendulum, moves forward before hurling the ball plateward. Shouppe, who has helped groom several standouts in his 12 years at FSU, including first-round draft choices Paul Wilson, Jonathan Johnson and Nick Stocks, reversed that motion for LaMacchia.

He rocks forward initially, then back, eliminating his tendency to go forward too quickly.

"Pitching is so much confidence," Shouppe said. "It's so much habit. Like anything else athletically, when you slow it down you can do it perfectly, but when you get into a competing mode, you revert back. It's easy to see and it's easy to get somebody to understand what he's doing wrong, but it's very difficult to get somebody to make that change to ensure he doesn't continue to do it wrong."

LaMacchia embraced the change and worked at it tirelessly.

"It's a minor change," he said. "It wasn't really hard. I think it's easier to get upright with the rubber (after the initial rock step) and it helps me keep my balance. It's easier for me to locate my offspeed pitches going forward first."

Funny how life can take a dramatic turn with one short step.

LaMacchia is the No. 2 starter in a solid rotation. Entering today's scheduled start against Duke, he's 8-1 with a 2.83 ERA, best among FSU's starters. He has struck out 48 in 571/3 innings and only walked 14.

"I've said all year long that our staff is good, but it's not great because we don't have that one dominant guy," Shouppe said. "But Marc LaMacchia has the potential to be that dominant guy for us. I think he's got first-round potential, at least top three-round potential. As his coach, if I feel that and I'm not challenging him to meet those expectations, then I'm not doing my job. Every time out now, I'm going to challenge him."

"I like that," LaMacchia said. "I really like that."

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