Baseball takes the field next weekend

By Tom Schreier

The back of the 2010 men's baseball team shirt reads "Burn the Ships," a reference to the legend of Hernán Cortés setting fire to his own ships in order to prevent his men from retreating during his assault on the Aztec Empire in 1519. For this year's squad, the motto calls every player to put forth his best effort every day in order for the team to reach its potential.

Santa Clara is projected to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference this year; however, Head Coach Mark O'Brien, who enters his ninth year at the helm, says he does not bother with preseason rankings.

"It's wasted energy," O'Brien stressed. "If the preseason rankings were correct every year, why would you play the games?"

O'Brien wants his team to focus their energy on getting the 20 first-year players -- 14 of whom are true freshmen -- ready for their first collegiate game on Feb. 19, when the Broncos host Nevada at Stephen Schott Stadium.

Senior Geoff Klein and redshirt junior Tommy Medica acknowledge that the transition from high school to college baseball is a daunting task, but both like the improvements they are seeing from the freshmen.

The team expects to see increased contribution from the freshmen as the season progresses.

Pat Stover, who joins the team as true freshman from the Sacramento area, slugged .756 as a senior at Rocklin High School last year. An All-State Second Team outfielder, his team-leading .451 batting average brought him attention from professional scouts. The Oakland Athletics selected Stover in the 17th round (513 overall) pick in last MLB year's draft.

Classmate Rhett Nelson expects to take pressure off of Stover when he takes the mound. The Lindon, Utah native led Timpanogos High School to a 2008 Class 5A state title with a 10-0 record. Named the No. 2 prep recruit and the No. 1 pitcher in his home state by The Utah High School Baseball Coaches Association and Provo Daily Herald respectively.

Senior pitcher Nate Garcia, who was named to the WCC All-Freshman team three years ago, will be a valuable mentor for Nelson. He has enjoyed working with Nelson, a player whom he feels is one of the hardest working on this year's squad.

"His work ethic is great," Garcia said of Nelson. "He's out there putting in extra work, doing all he can to be a huge contributor to the whole team."

In the past two seasons, Garcia has been named to the All-WCC Team. Last year's staff ace led the WCC in strikeouts (96), innings pitched (95.2) and complete games (3).

Garcia, who shed 30 pounds in the offseason while working out with Medica, looks to improve upon his 7-5 record and 4.33 ERA of a year ago.

Medica, the team's starting catcher, and Garcia have played baseball together since age ten, and over the years the two have built a camaraderie that is beneficial to the team.

"He knows what my pitches do, what pitches I'm throwing during what counts," said Garcia of his teammate.

"He knows what my ball is going to do on any given day. He knows things to come out to say to me to calm me down if I'm struggling," Garcia added.

The two-time All-WCC First Team catcher Medica had to redshirt last year after suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery.

"It was my first major injury in my career," said Medica, who found having to sit and watch his teammates play without him difficult.

However, the career .361 hitter -- third best in Santa Clara history -- who had a 29-game hitting streak from Apr. 5 to May 20, 2008, feels he benefitted from watching the game from the dugout and looks to return to form in 2010.

Fellow catcher Geoff Klein filled in for Medica in his absence. In late April and early May, Klein hit .516 in eight games, boosting his average to .379 and placing him on the All-WCC First Team. He was also one of two players named WCC Batting Champion in 2009.

When asked about his goals this year Klein says he does not want to put a number on himself and would rather see the team go to the postseason than attain sole possession of the WCC batting crown next year.

The Broncos begin their 55-game journey to the postseason on Feb. 19 with a three-game home series against Nevada before heading east to Texas in a matchup with Houston.

Santa Clara must wait until Apr. 16 to face WCC rival San Diego, who have earned a #14 national ranking from Ping!Baseball.

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.