Ciarlo sick with a bat
David Ciarlo is leading the Western Athletic Conference in an array of hitting statistics, but it’s his defense at second that impresses his coaches
About a month ago, something wasn’t right with Wolf Pack second baseman David Ciarlo – he ate cantaloupe.
In Nevada’s first conference game of the season against Louisiana Tech, Ciarlo moved from his regular position at second base and started vomiting in the outfield turf.
“I’m thinking it was Salmonella poisoning,” Ciarlo said. “There was an outbreak that I read about in the paper from cantaloupe and I ate some cantaloupe before the game.”
The game was paused for about five minutes as Ciarlo continued to get through his bout of food poisoning in foul territory.
“I was feeling pretty nauseous all day, but I wanted to play,” he said. “That inning, it all came up at once. I thought I had gotten through it so I stayed in the game.”
Nevada coach Gary Powers left Ciarlo in the game because of his recent hot hitting and stellar play at second base.
He leads the Western Athletic Conference in batting average (.459), 57 points more than Nevada’s Jason Rodriguez, who is second in the Western Athletic Conference.
“He’s the same guy day in and day out,” Powers said. “It doesn’t matter if he’s slumping.”
Ciarlo continued his hot hitting even after throwing up. He hit a line drive to the outfield in his following at-bat and was forced to labor around the base paths. As he approached second his third base coach gave him the green light to continue to third. Ciarlo kept running hard and safely made it for a triple.
“I got to second and thought I might make it to third, but I tell you, I was leaning and hunched over, really close to throwing up again,” Ciarlo said.
While on deck in the ninth inning, Ciarlo started to feel sick again and decided he should take himself out of the game. He missed the following two games, ending his 113 consecutive games played streak.
“It’s hard to sit out,” Ciarlo said. “I want to get out there every opportunity I can, but the next day I just couldn’t do it.”
Louisiana Tech’s Drew Bunting got so sick from seeing Ciarlo’s puke that he started puking himself.
“I wasn’t feeling too good, but I got a kick out of that,” Ciarlo said.
Watching the Bulldogs’ second baseman puke isn’t the only thing Ciarlo has gotten a kick out of, though. He’s also gotten a kick out of torturing opposing pitchers this season.
Along with his batting average, the senior leads the WAC in slugging percentage (.753) and on-base percentage (.561).
“I was the last person to expect that,” Ciarlo said.
Nevada’s hot hitter isn’t known for his hitting prowess, but instead his defense in the middle of the infield.
“He’s the best (at turning double plays) I’ve ever had, or ever seen,” Nevada defensive coach Jay Uhlman said. “He’s special around (second) base. He’s well above average for Division I baseball.
“I’m spoiled to be able to watch him play every day.”
Ciarlo helped the Wolf Pack turn a school record 139 double plays last season, 21st best in the nation.
“I’ve never seen myself (turn a double play), but people say I’m good at it,” Ciarlo said. “I just try to get rid of the ball as fast as I can. It’s hard to be consistent with that, trying not to be too quick and making a mistake.”
“Coach Uhlman taught me to be slow, and be sure, and then turn it. To slow things down actually makes it faster. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but for me I was so quick that I’d drop the ball, or mess up. Be sure of that first one, make the catch and then throw it.”
Ciarlo said he idolized Major League Baseball second baseman Roberto Alomar since he was a little kid.
“He was a guy, when I was growing up, that everybody watched,” Ciarlo said. “He changed the game for second basemen.”
Ciarlo said even though he was an Oakland Athletics fan, he still emulated Alomar.
“I watched all his games,” he said. “Watching the Blue Jays in the (1992 and 1993) World Series, seeing the plays he made. I tried to do what he did and tried to make myself better through that.”
As for his sick spell, Ciarlo said his teammates occasionally still give him a hard time for it.
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” Nevada first baseman Shaun Kort said. “It’s embarrassing. It’s a pretty good story.”
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April 8th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Excellant article ! WOW ! even through
i’m his grandmother and very prejusdice. I would like to know if i could get this picture ? Thank You