Cavs' Arico learns from his mistakes

With his hands over his hand, Kevin Arico sat motionless.

Members of the Virginia baseball team made it a point to avoid their teammate.

The junior right-hander was essentially inconsolable.

Arico had, in fact, blown a save in a gut-wrenching loss to rival Virginia Tech, keeping the top-ranked Cavaliers from earning a series sweep.

Arico’s plans to remain in silence were interrupted by one of the few faces in the team’s clubhouse that knew what the closer was going through.

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor sought out Arico, with a personal story to share flashing painfully through his mind.

“I was in the clubhouse just sitting there and thinking and thinking. It was really rough,” Arico pointed out. “And then coach O’Connor came over and told me about a time when he was pitching in the ninth inning in a regional [for Creighton University] and walked three in a row to load the bases.”

That memory and many others haunt the Cavaliers’ skipper occasionally, as one would expect with a former closer.

But they are also valued teaching points to provide his players.

“I think with any experiences that you have had, it’s your responsibility as a coach to share that with your players,” O’Connor said. “I was fortunate enough to pitch in Kevin’s role, and I know how fine of a line that it is to control success and not having success.

“I felt it was important to say, ‘Hey, I know how you feel. It is all a matter of how you respond.’”

It meant the world to Arico, who is from Flemington, N.J.

“It definitely helps out knowing that I have a coach that has been there and knows what I am going through,” said Arico, who boasts an ERA of 3.22. “It was a bad day against Virgina Tech. I came to the park and didn’t have my normal stuff.

“I walked three and it’s a shame that it ended up that way, but you just have to turn the page and come back the next day ready.”

That is something that Arico would have struggled with early in his career and certainly before assuming the closer role near the middle of the season last year.

“Could Kevin Arico the rookie handle that? Probably not,” he said.

“Last year? Yes, I could have done a better job.

“You learn rather quickly.”

More times than not, the 6-foot-4 right-handed reliever has had success.

In fact, he is tied for the nation’s lead with 13 saves entering tonight’s league game at 6 p.m. at Duke (25-18, 7-14 ACC). Virginia enters the contest, which is being played at the home of the Triple-A Durham Bulls, at 36-9 and 15-6 and one game behind first-place Georgia Tech in the Coastal Division.

In addition to the merits on the mound this year, Arico also ranks second in Virginia history with 24 career saves.

Obtaining those stats when he can be called upon in the tighest of situations did not come without a mental edge and an ability to alter his personality on the fly.

“You have to have a certain demeanor on and off the field. It comes with the territory,” said Arico, who has just two blown saves and 32 strikeouts in 22.1 innings. “On the field, you just have to be the closer. You have to have the mindset of, ‘This is my job, this is what I am doing and nobody is going to get in the way.’ But after walking three and blowing the game, you are not going to be the friendliest person.

“That’s one of the things that you do learn once you develop into the role. In the dugout with your teammates and with your friends you have to be a completely different person. Once you cross that line and get on the mound, you have to flip a switch and turn it on.”

O’Connor knows exactly what Arico is experiencing — he did pitch in the College World Series for Creighton.

“The hardest thing is that you are always judged on whether you save the game or not,” O’Connor said. “Kevin is not perfect. Nobody is perfect, but you have to have a short memory and keep coming back.

“Luckily, Kevin has a short memory.”

Arico also has a slider that has frozen and fooled batters from all across the country.

“It’s a very good pitch,” Virginia junior Phil Gosselin said. “It’s tight and it’s hard to pick up. It comes out like his fastball and then has a little dip there at the end where it will either get you on the end of the bat or you will swing through it.

“It’s pretty good and it misses your bat a lot.”

At times last year, Arico leaned on his slider to a fault. He knew that he had become predictable.

So he worked feverishly in the fall on improving his fastball and his changeup.

It worked.

“I have worked more around my fastball this year. Last year, I was counting solely on my slider,” he said. “If my slider wasn’t there it was going to be a rough outing for me.

“Now, I’ve been using my fastball some to get ahead and pitching around my fastball, and to lefties I have been able to mix and match and keep people a little more off balance this year.”