Baseball is his love

When Christopher “Simi” Machado strolls across the campus at Los Angeles Marshall, the football coaches sigh and the basketball coaches wonder what might have been.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior looks powerful enough to be a tight end or linebacker, imposing enough to be a center or power forward.

“I’ve sent him memos with the schedules for spring practice,” football Coach Andy Moran said with a wistful smile.

But Machado is strictly a baseball player, a right-handed pitcher and left-handed-hitting first baseman.

On the mound, Machado is 5-1 with a 2.18 earned-run average for the Barristers (9-3 overall, 1-0 in Northern League). He had a perfect game into the sixth inning this season against Simi Valley Grace Brethren but settled for a one-hitter and a 6-0 victory.

In 27 at-bats, Machado has 10 hits, including a home run, triple and four doubles. He has driven in eight runs.

Asked why he doesn’t play other sports also, Machado offers a sheepish grin.

“I’ve always wanted to play baseball, and I’ve been pitching since I was 9. Why didn’t I play other sports? I don’t know . . . just a love for baseball.”

Adding that he was “timid and shy as a freshman,” Machado said he really wasn’t interested in other sports.

Shane Gerard, Marshall’s baseball coach, is pleased with that decision.

“He’s the best kid I’ve had, by far, in my five years here,” Gerard said. “The combination of what he does on the field, in the classroom, the company he keeps. . . . I never have to worry about him getting into trouble.”

Last season, Machado was the Northern League’s most valuable player and an All-City second-team selection after posting a 7-5 record with a 2.39 ERA and batting .419 with four home runs.

“I think as a player, he is tough to face,” Los Angeles Franklin Coach Sergio Galvez said. “We’ve been successful against him as a pitcher, but he gives us more problems as a hitter. I see him more as a hitter than a pitcher. But his pitching is good, very competitive.”

Gerard and his staff were looking for ways to make Machado a more effective pitcher this season. Last summer, they changed his delivery angle from overhand to three-quarters. The alteration has provided late movement on each of his four pitches -- fastball, curve, slider and split-finger.

His fastball rarely exceeds 84 mph, but it never comes in straight, making it difficult to lock on for hitters looking to crush it.

Even in a 4-1 loss at Palisades, Machado left a favorable impression.

“Once he got into a situation where he had to make a pitch, he usually made it,” Dolphins Coach Mike Voelkel said. “That’s the most important thing about a pitcher, not so much how hard they throw or the break on their curveball. And he gave us trouble.”

Machado has a 3.5 grade-point average -- “or something like that” -- but it wasn’t always that way.

In elementary school, he said he was put in a specialized program to help him with retention. “But by the seventh grade I was good. Ever since then, I’ve been in regular classes,” he said.

Because of his size, the assumption is Machado’s nickname, “Simi,” had something to do with trucks.

Not so.

“I’ve had it since I was like 3 or 4,” he said. “I used to drink a lot of Similac formula when I was younger. My baby sitter and her son nicknamed me the ‘Similac Kid.’ They shortened it to Simi, and it stuck.”

It may be hard to believe, but Machado was even bigger as a freshman. Well, at least wider, weighing in at 275 pounds.

“I did it by constant workouts, running and weight-lifting,” Machado said of his weight loss. “I was told I could be a better player if I lost the weight, but I was [also motivated] to feel better about myself.”

That kind of dedication got Machado selected as Marshall’s team captain this season and last by his coach.

“He leads by example with his work ethic, and he’s a vocal leader,” Gerard said. “He’s always pushing his teammates and keeps people loose in the dugout.”

Said Machado: “Baseball has brought that out of me.”

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mike.terry@latimes.com