Quote:FSU pitcher puts perfection on line
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/sports/ci_5983056

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Perfection may be hard to improve on, but Florida State's chances of getting back to the College World Series for the first time in seven years hinge largely on the right arm of its undefeated star pitcher.

Bryan Henry is 14-0 this season with 13 wins coming on Friday starts, but he's been moved back a day to face Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Saturday.

The top-seeded Seminoles (47-9) opened the ACC tournament Wednesday with a victory over Wake Forest and play Miami today.

Henry, who picked up his 14th win last Thursday at Georgia Tech, will have nine days rest when he faces a Clemson team that he defeated 11-1 just two weeks ago.

"With the schedule we're playing this year, for him to go undefeated is just mind-boggling," longtime Florida State coach Mike Martin said.

Pitching on at least a week's rest has paid off for the 6-3, 205-pound Henry, who added some gitty-up to his fastball and an improved changeup this year on his way to winning ACC Pitcher of the Year.

"He's made a living on being able to spot his fastball and does that as well as anybody that I've had," Martin said. "I really don't know that I can say anybody that I've had better than he as far as going out there and spotting the fastball."

And while Henry's fastball tops out at roughly 90 mph on radar guns, he does many of the little things that remind his coach of San Diego's Greg Maddux, who has put up Hall of Fame numbers without overpowering stuff.

"He's probably as good a pitcher in that respect, fielding his position, holding the runner, holding the ball longer before he releases it," Martin said. "A gamer."

Henry struck out 107 hitters in 104 innings this spring and has a 2.50 earned run average. And he doesn't help opposing hitters out as evidenced by giving up an average of just two walks per nine innings.

"The biggest difference for me this year is I have confidence in any of my pitches at any time in any situation," said Henry, who concedes he's still working on mastering the changeup.

"It's there for me sometimes, not there another," said Henry, who was recruited as a third baseman after a year in junior college.

Henry, 22, got his chance to pitch at Florida State midway through the 2005 season with three innings of shutout relief work after a series of Seminole pitchers were being hammered at Georgia Tech.

Since then he's gone 32-7 in less than three full seasons and 18-4 in the ACC, including a 9-0 league mark this year.

He was 22-2 as a pitcher in high school. Florida State coaches thought Henry should spend a year in a junior college where he could increase his strength and stamina.

"That was the best thing that ever happened to Bryan," said his father, Jim Henry, a former sportswriter who often had his son in tow at Florida State practices and games.