Medica continues post-injury streak

By Joe Doss Antoun

Before his injury on Feb. 9, Tommy Medica was batting a respectable .300. But after missing 10 games due to a wrist injury suffered while trying to make an out at home plate, the Broncos catcher has hit for an astounding .568 batting average and has an ongoing 10-game hitting streak.

Medica returned from his injury March 30 and was named WCC player of the week shortly thereafter for his performance in the first week of April. The freshman from San Jose batted .706 (12-for-17) with a double, two triples, four runs scored and a 1.000 slugging percentage during the Broncos' four games that week.

"Tommy is obviously well deserving of this award, he had a tremendous week, and most importantly, he helped our team to two solid road victories against a very solid USF team," said Santa Clara head coach Mark O'Brien.

Medica has not only helped the team from an offensive standpoint, but as the team's starting catcher, he has been an anchor for the Broncos' pitching staff.

"I've always thought a good catcher is like a good umpire in the sense that they can help give a pitcher a good rhythm early in a game," said O'Brien. "And our pitchers are extremely confident in Tommy when he's behind the plate."

In fact, it was Medica's defensive skills that originally attracted O'Brien's attention during a recruiting trip at nearby Bellarmine College Preparatory, where Medica attended high school.

"The thing that stuck out the most were his defensive skills," said O'Brien. "He gets strikes called for his pitcher, he sets up a good target, he has a great arm and he is extremely athletic, which is pretty rare to find in a catcher."

Medica, whose favorite catcher is Ivan Rodriguez because of his "amazing defensive skills," was selected to represent the WCAL-All League First Team and was also named to the Mercury News First Team as a senior in 2006.

Also apart of that senior class at Bellarmine was freshman starting pitcher Nate Garcia, who was named to the 2006 Louisville Slugger High School All-American Team, and has been a solid starting pitcher thus far for the Broncos.

"It helped a lot to see some familiar faces when I first came to Santa Clara," said Medica. "But now I'm really close to all of the players on the team just 'cause we spend so much time together practicing or hanging out."

Medica, along with Garcia, Alex Rivers, Steve Kalush and Patrick Glenn, are part of one of the highest ranked recruiting classes in the nation (ranked No. 28 by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper).

Within the prominent freshman class, Medica has been one of the most successful in making the transition from high school to college, O'Brien said. He cited the catcher's approach at the plate as one of the biggest reasons for Medica's success.

"When you're batting at the high school level you don't really need a plan because the pitching isn't as good and you can just go up there and swing away," O'Brien said. "However, at the collegiate level, the pitchers are a lot better and a plan is necessary when you approach the plate. Tommy has done a great job of sticking to his approach and it has paid off tremendously for him."

Though he has been one of the team's leaders as only a freshman, Medica manages to stay humble in his approach to the game.

When asked about his current 10-game hitting streak, Medica said, "The ball is just finding some holes."

Medica said the April 7 game against San Francisco was the most memorable moment of his young collegiate career.

Medica said he didn't cite this game because he went 5-for-5 with two runs, a run batted in and a stolen base. Rather, he dubbed this the most memorable game of his young career because teammate Ryan Conan hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to break a tie and eventually give the Broncos a win over USF.

Though nobody knows how long Medica's hitting streak will continue or if he will hit over .400 on the season, Medica is optimistic that this is the start of a promising collegiate career behind the plate at Santa Clara.

"I want to put my best effort into hitting .400 this season," said Medica. "But if our team needs a hit and run and it lowers my average, I would be glad to do it."

Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.