NAMPA, Idaho – A 14-year-old Jalen Fuhriman was running a lap around a track with his baseball team after practice like they did every day.

Fuhriman was not the speediest of kids, but he also wasn't the slowest.

Halfway through the lap, though, his legs suddenly felt like cement and he fell further and further behind his teammates eventually finishing last 100 yards behind the next closest runner.

Knowing something was wrong and with diabetes running in his family, he went to his grandfather's house to have his blood sugar checked.

It was in the 400s. Normal is 80-120.

His mom immediately took him to an endocrinologist in Idaho Falls and he was on an IV for six hours to get his glucose in line.

Fuhriman was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and now wears a glucose monitor and insulin drip line.

When he's on the mound for the Northwest Nazarene baseball team, you can see one of the devices on his left hip.

"I've had umpires ask me if it is an iPod or an MP3 player," he said. "I've never had a situation where I had to be taken out of a game, but I've had a couple of scenarios right before going in where my sugars drop because my adrenaline is going."

Fuhriman is one of two NNU baseball players who has diabetes and wears devices while he plays, joining redshirt freshman Logan Smith.

While there are longterm negative health effects with the disease, it is not slowing Fuhriman down at all right now.

The senior is the team-leader in saves and is constantly called upon when the game is on the line. The Nighthawks (24-22 overall) play Western Oregon at 2:30 p.m. PDT on Wednesday in the first round of the GNAC Baseball Championships at Concordia University in Portland, Ore.

"I told (head coach) Joe (Schaefer) this last week: if there is a guy on our team that I would want pitching with the game on the line, it would be Jalen," NNU pitching coach Matt Hollod said. "He's got the right frame of mind. He is a different pitcher when he gets in trouble or the game is on the line."

He is 4-2 with three saves this season in 25 1/3 innings pitched and is striking out nearly a batter an inning.

He struggled a bit down the stretch, but even when he has allowed runs he has kept the Nighthawks in games. Against Central Washington last Friday, he gave up two runs but got out of a bases loaded, one out jam to keep the game tied.

"He has been in the most high leverage situations simply because of his mentality, personality and the experience," Schaefer said. "He kind of thrives on those scenarios when the game is on the line, which is why he's kind of been our go to guy."

Growing up in Eastern Idaho, Fuhriman threw in the low 90s and was one of the state's best power hitters in high school. He went to Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., and was being recruited by some Division I schools until he blew out his arm and had to have shoulder surgery.

He eventually ended up in Nampa and had to reinvent himself as a pitcher, relying more on location and offspeed pitches.

"He was probably the most feared pitcher in the state because he threw hard and was kind of wild," said teammate Greg Casper, who played against Fuhriman in American Legion ball growing up. "Now he has developed offspeed and just throws a lot more strikes because he can't rely on his fastball (as much)."

While Fuhriman is obviously frustrated by his health issues, he figures it all worked out in the end.

"You just roll with the punches and go with it," he said. "There is obviously a reason I'm here and why it happened. I don't really know why, but it worked out for the best."