Ryan Nalls became Gators' ace this season after changing positions when he was a junior.
By STEVE LEE
Published May 29, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - The second Land O'Lakes baseball player in as many weeks has signed a scholarship, but it's not who coach Calvin Baisley expected.
Infielder-turned-pitcher Ryan Nalls accepted an offer from Eckerd College on Tuesday. He signed an academic/athletic scholarship worth about $18,000 of the $22,000 annual cost to attend the Division II school.
Last week, Land O'Lakes second baseman Michael Garcia signed with Shelton State Community College. Teammate Brandon Vari, an outfielder, has committed to Lake Sumter Community College. Baisley expects Vari to sign soon.
Nalls is the county's sixth signee, joining Pasco's Matt Smith (Saint Leo), River Ridge's Justin Roth (Lake Sumter CC), Mitchell's Brian Sommer (Tampa) and Tyler Clippard (South Florida) and Garcia.
"I was shocked by all the success I had," said Nalls, who after two seasons as a junior varsity shortstop became a closer as a junior and a starter this season. "I'll take it. I like being up there on the hill."
As the Gators' ace, the 5-foot-9 right-hander went 6-4 with a 2.30 ERA. Nalls threw a shutout through six innings of a 7-4 district semifinal win over Gulf before taking the 5-0 loss in the region quarterfinal against East Ridge.
"It's good for him, because he's worked hard on his pitching," Land O'Lakes coach Calvin Baisley said of the scholarship. "He made himself a good pitcher.
"He's not overpowering, but he made himself competitive because he can throw three pitches (fastball, curve and changeup) for strikes."
A trip to the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2001 led to a position switch for Nalls. Until then, he primarily played shortstop and third base. But with the bay area team facing Dominican teams twice daily for five days, coach John Zellar quickly ran out of pitchers.
"I threw a little in Little League, but not much," said Nalls, who volunteered to pitch in that series. "I said I don't know how pretty this is going to be, but my fastball was moving and I was locating my curveball."
Nalls wound up with a 7-0 shutout, and Baisley used him as a closer the next spring. This season, Baisley said, Nalls "pitched all the tough games for us. He was our most consistent pitcher time and time again."
Nalls graduated with a 3.2 grade-point average and plans to major in international business.
