04/23 at 01:15 AM

Sometimes, as a relief pitcher in a game long lost, you just have to suck it up and take the pounding.

Opelika’s Zach Blatt learned this three weeks ago.

Blatt entered in the seventh inning down 12-2 against Florida in front of the same friends and family that watched him throw dazzling stuff as Opelika High School’s ace. The bases were loaded and Florida had already racked up nine runs in the last inning-and-a-half.

With Auburn’s bullpen already depleted, Blatt wasn’t coming out of the game unless his arm literally fell off.

Twelve runs and an official attachment to the worst loss in Auburn history later, Blatt recorded the final Florida out in the Gators’ 24-2 drubbing of the Tigers.

Blatt didn’t have his best stuff on that day, of course, but it certainly wasn’t his worst. It was all the more reason to let the outing beat around his head like a batting practice session.

“It was like ‘is there any way to get these guys out?’” Blatt said. “We knew we were getting our butt handed to us and I think it made me mentally tough. If I can get out there and handle that, I feel like I can come in a big situation and help the team out.”

Blatt’s duties as a freshman have been relegated largely to mop-up duty, like his outing against Florida and mid-week non-conference games.

It’s where he’s continued to figure out the kinks of not only the difference between college and high school, but the different approach required out of a reliever than the grip-it and sling-it mentality he had as a starter at OHS.

“In high school, if I slipped up and let a fastball run across the plate, I was still able to get people out,” Blatt said. “If you let a fastball run over the plate here, they bang it off the wall.”

Yes, Blatt’s seen his fair share of balls bang off the wall on his way to a 7.50 ERA. And yes, he’s still not back to full strength after a senior year where he “threw more than I should have.”

But it’s all part of the “learning curve,” he said. And it sure beats redshirting.

“Coming in as a reliever in tough situations is doing nothing but making me better,” Blatt said. “I’m learning how to go after hitters, attack hitters and help set a tone in the game.”

He’s also learning how to prepare — something he didn’t even think about as the 2008 Alabama Class 6A Pitcher of the Year.

Blatt knew exactly when he would pitch in high school — very, very often — so he planned accordingly. His long toss sessions were on set days, allowing him to be as fresh as possible.

Rather quickly, Blatt learned the words “set schedule” aren’t in a reliever’s vocabulary.

Thursdays are out for long toss sessions, as Blatt, though he hasn’t often, could be called upon the very next day in a Tigers’ conference series opener. And Mondays are a wash, too, because of the non-conference games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The in-game adjustments have also been tough. The up-down-up-down life of a reliever during a single game has also taken some getting used to.

“Being a starter, I got warm and got ready to go,” Blatt said. “Now it’s get warm and control getting warm. You can’t burn yourself up.

“I’m still adapting.”

The adaptation was hindered in the early goings-on, as Blatt was shut down immediately upon arrival at Auburn. His workload in high school was simply too high, and the result was a strained flexor muscle in his throwing arm.

Blatt didn’t start pitching for Auburn until halfway through the fall.

“I would throw 100 pitches against Auburn and then two days later against Central, I’d throw 50,” Blatt said. “I was irresponsible, so I had to get my velocity back up.”

That velocity still isn’t where he’d like it — Blatt’s fastball hovers around 87-88 miles per hour — but it doesn’t have to be. A flat 92-miles per hour fastball is as hittable as soft toss in the
college game.

“It’s gotten better and I think it will get better,” coach John Pawlowski said. “His makeup is going to allow him to mature better.”

Blatt said his goal is to increase his endurance enough to where he could maybe contend for a starting job next season. His lack of a solid three different pitches, though, will likely keep him in the bullpen for the near future, Pawlowski said.

That’s OK for Blatt. Having a chance to close games comes in a close second.

“I know I can do it,” Blatt said. “I just have to get out there and work.”

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