ARIZONA BASEBALL
When the Arizona Wildcats reconvened following winter break, coach Andy Lopez introduced the team to a new, old player.
"Clyde Bandilla," Lopez said with a laugh. "He's a different person. He's lost 20 pounds. He's got a 3.5 GPA, and he's been fantastic for us."
Bryce Bandilla has been a member of the UA program since August 2008.
He might as well be a different person - call him Clyde - this year.
The Wildcats sophomore pitcher is in shape, focused on baseball and academically sound for the first time in his college career. Arizona began practicing Monday with Bandilla, 20, as the favorite to inherit the closer's role previously occupied by three high draft picks: Ryan Perry, Daniel Schlereth and Jason Stoffel.
"They're all great pitchers," Bandilla said. "It's a privilege to be a closer here."
The Wildcats will need Bandilla, and others like him, to step up if they hope to compete for a Pac-10 championship this spring. Arizona's 2010 roster includes just two seniors - pitcher Grayson Adams and utilityman Rafael Valenzuela - and seven draft-eligible juniors. The rest, including a 17-person freshman class, will try to spark a team that went 30-25 and missed the postseason a year ago.
That Bandilla made the team is notable in itself.
The pitcher, like many UA freshmen, was often irresponsible in his first year away from home.
The Wildcats pitcher didn't go to class often, finishing with a 1.5 GPA. He stayed out too late and partied too much. He was kicked out of his dormitory for drinking. He ate poorly, gained weight and didn't do much to stay in shape.
It was a toxic mix that rendered Bandilla, a promising left- hander, irrelevant on the field. In 26 appearances, he posted a 3-3 record and 6.20 ERA. Twice, he was pulled from starts after failing to get a single out.
"I was a mess," he said. "I was 20 pounds overweight. I didn't go to class, and I didn't work out either. I drank a lot, I partied a lot, and I didn't care much about baseball."
Arizona's coaches noticed. Lopez summoned Bandilla to his office in the days following the UA's regular-season finale to discuss his future. The coach was in the process of purging six players from the roster for maturity issues, and Bandilla was seemingly next.
"I had some deep reservations, quite candidly, about inviting him back. Last year was not acceptable in any way, shape or form, on the field or off the field," Lopez said. "I told Bryce that what he did during the season was unacceptable.
"Before I could finish that sentence, he said: 'I know I've screwed up. I know I haven't done what I was supposed to do. If you let me back, I'll get it figured out.'"
Slowly, Bandilla put his life in order.
The pre-sociology major salvaged his GPA with a solid performance in summer school. Bandilla put himself on a diet as the fall semester began and re-dedicated himself both in the weight room and the diamond. Bandilla shed 20 pounds off his 6-foot-4-inch frame, gaining an extra few miles per hour on his fastball in the process. His fastball has been clocked at 92 miles per hour, major-league- caliber stuff for a left-hander; his second pitch, a curveball, has a newfound break.
Academically, Bandilla has become a shining example to his teammates. He received one A and three B's in the fall semester, good for a 3.25 GPA.
Bandilla must now prove he can pitch effectively at the college level. While it might have intimidated Bryce, "Clyde" seems up for the challenge.
"I totally believe that if you're a bad person off the field - if you drink, party, don't go to class - it carries over. It correlates," Bandilla said. "When you do the things you're supposed to do, the same thing happens. Now, it's carrying over here, too."
KEY DATES
* Saturday: Red/Blue game, 11 a.m., at Kindall/ Sancet Stadium, (admission is free)
* Feb. 19: Season opener, Utah Valley at UA, 6 p.m.
* March 26: Pac-10 opener, Oregon at UA, 6 p.m.
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