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Medica gets off to great start with Broncos

By Mike Barnhart

Tommy Medica has two more baseball seasons to enjoy before D-day.

That's D for decision. If he continues to play like he did for Santa Clara University as a freshman this past spring, he will need to decide whether to stay in school for a senior season or sign a professional contract.

Medica, who starred at Bellarmine College Prep, had a fantastic season for the Broncos and has spent much of the summer playing for the US National Team.

"Tommy had an amazing freshman year for us," applauded Santa

Clara head coach Mark O'Brien. "He is an incredible talent both

defensively and offensively, and we look forward to his continued

success in the coming years here at Santa Clara."

Medica, a San Jose native and Almaden resident, captured the West Coast Conference batting title with a .373 average and was named to both the All-WCC First Team and the All-Freshman Team. Despite missing11 games and parts of three others due to an injury early in the season, he banged out 60 hits for the season, including nine doubles, four triples, and a home run. Medica drove in 23 runs and scored 32.

In recognition of his efforts, Medica was named to two freshman All-American teams. He was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team by Collegiate Baseball and the Freshman All-America second team by Baseball America.

This summer Medica has served as one of the catchers on the 22-man USA Baseball team that placed second to Cuba in the recent Pan-Am Games in Brazil.

After losing, 3-1, to Cuba in the Pan-Am gold medal game, Medica and the US squad are looking forward to meeting Cuba again at the World Port Tournament. Five national teams are playing at the event, which runs through Aug. 12 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Through games of August 4, Medica was one of five players with a batting average above .300. In fact, although having played in just 17 of the team's 31 games, he was hitting .306 with 15 hits, 15 runs scored and 10 runs batted in.