LOCAL COLLEGES: Safe at home: Aztecs' Castro, USD's McCoy find their niche catching for local teams

By Tom Shanahan - For the North County Times | Monday, May 19, 2008 10:01 AM PDT ∞

Erik Castro has caught on as a catcher at San Diego State. Courtesy photo

SAN DIEGO ---- One returned home to join the baseball team at San Diego State, learning a new position as a bounce-back recruit from a Pac-10 school.

The other stayed home at the University of San Diego, although he had to wait to prove he could play at the NCAA Division I level.

They've traveled different paths, but what San Diego State's Erik Castro and USD's Nick McCoy, both sophomore catchers, share in common is they have been pleasant surprises for teams entering their conference tournaments.

McCoy, a Westview High alumnus who was buried on the bench as a freshman in 2006 before redshirting last season, took advantage of an opportunity to play after standout catcher/designated hitter Jordan Abruzzo was drafted in the 13th round by the New York Mets.

McCoy has hit .289 in West Coast Conference play for the nationally ranked Toreros (39-14), who host their best-of-three conference championship series beginning Friday.

Castro, a Fallbrook High alumnus who played third base last year at Arizona, batted .384 in Mountain West Conference play and hopes to lead the Aztecs (30-26) to an NCAA tournament berth when their conference tournament begins Tuesday at Texas Christian.

"He's been our savior this year," San Diego State coach Tony Gwynn said. "If you watch him now, you wouldn't know this is the first year he's been a catcher."

Injuries to catchers Matt Parker (ankle) and Bubba Ruddy (shoulder) prompted the Aztecs to audition Castro at catcher when he arrived from Arizona last fall (transfers in baseball do not have to sit out a year).

"He took to it pretty quickly, but I'm not going to lie to you," Gwynn said with a laugh. "At the beginning, it was pretty ugly with balls bouncing to the backstop. But the more he did it, the better he got. Defensively, he's taken charge behind the plate. He's demanded the pitchers do what he asks them to do."

The new position led to a slow start at the plate, but even that didn't dampen Castro's resolve. The 6-foot-3, 210 pounder's first priority was to help his new teammates where he was needed.

"I'm glad to be back home at San Diego State and playing in the Mountain West Conference," Castro said. "I think I got caught up in being a Pac-10 recruit, but it's been great to try earn my reputation back and try to be the player I think I can become."

Castro is still only hitting .261 overall, but his five home runs are tied for third on the team and his 29 RBIs in 48 games put him in a tie for fourth.

"I think it was more mental," Castro said. "About halfway through the year I said, 'I'm starting over. It's time for a new start.' Since then, it's been going pretty good. I think now that I've got used to catching, I like it. It gets your mind off hitting. When you're behind the plate, you have to get rid of what happened and focus in the play. It gets you thinking less at the plate."

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound McCoy wasn't as highly recruited as Castro. And by the time he arrived at USD, two of the Toreros' best players ---- Abruzzo and current senior Logan Gelbrich ---- were catchers.

He got only two at-bats in three games as a true freshman in 2006 before redshirting during the Toreros' record-breaking 2007 season.

But instead of seeing himself as buried on the depth chart, McCoy made practice his games.

"The whole time I've been here, I was catching all of our best pitchers," McCoy said. "In the intrasquad games, I was sometimes catching for both teams. I was learning what it takes to catch some of the best pitchers in the college game."

McCoy's is hitting only .236 overall, but his on-base percentage is .367 and his ability to handle the pitching staff allows the Toreros to keep the sharp hitting Gelbrich in the lineup at designated hitter and in the outfield when he isn't catching.

"I wanted to be prepared when I got the opportunity," McCoy said. "I didn't want my window of opportunity to pass me by."