SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Rusty Filter, the newly hired Santa Clara head baseball coach, has added former Bronco standout Jon Karcich to the coaching staff as an assistant coach. Karcich, who played for Santa Clara from 2007-09, was an assistant coach with Filter at Stanford for the past three seasons.
In the last two years under Karcich, the Cardinal recorded some of the best defensive seasons in program history. In 2017, Stanford posted the No. 15 ranked fielding percentage in the nation at .980, recording just 45 errors in 58 games. In 2016, Stanford finished No. 1 in the nation with a school record fielding percentage of .983, and also finished with the fewest errors in program history (35 in 54 games).
Also at Stanford, Karcich coached 2015 fifth-round draft pick Drew Jackson, who led the Cardinal with a .320 batting average as a junior, and 2016 sixth-round pick Tommy Edman, who led Stanford in hits, runs, steals and triples. In 2017, two of Karcich's disciples were picked among the top five rounds as Quinn Brodey was selected in the third round, and two-time All-Pac-12 and All-Pac-12 defensive team honoree Matt Winaker was a fifth-round pick by the Mets. Karcich helped the 2017 team record its highest average, most doubles and best slugging percentage in five years.
Karcich arrived at Stanford after serving as an assistant coach at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (Ariz.) and as head coach of the Shelter Island Bucks of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League. Karcich acted as the bench and infield coach as Chandler-Gilbert went 31-25 record in the highly respected Arizona Community College Athletic Conference in 2014.
Before coaching, Karcich played three years of minor league baseball and reached Triple-A. He hit .243 with 14 home runs and 77 RBI in 225 games with the Los Angeles Angels organization.
As a Santa Clara Bronco, Karcich was a two-time All-West Coast Conference first-team honoree at Santa Clara before being drafted in the seventh round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Angels. As a freshman, Karcich started all 54 games in which he appeared, and followed that with one of the best sophomore campaigns in Santa Clara history. He led the Broncos in slugging percentage (.591), RBIs (51), home runs (12) and total bases (123), and was second on the team with a .351 batting average. He finished his career ranked No. 6 in school history in career hit-by-pitch (26), No. 6 in career doubles (48) and fifth in single-season doubles (22).
A native of Belmont, Calif., Karcich attended Serra High School and was named the San Francisco Chronicle Player of the Year as a senior in 2006.
Karcich earned his bachelor's in communications from Santa Clara in 2013.
QUOTABLE
"I am thrilled to be back at Santa Clara University and in a Bronco uniform. I would like to thank Coach Filter for this opportunity he has given. He is a tremendous coach and a great fit for this program. Under the guidance of (Director of Athletics) Renee Baumgartner and (Senior Associate Athletic Director) Jeff Mitchell, I'm excited about the direction that Santa Clara athletics and Bronco baseball are headed."
Jon Karcich
Assistant Baseball Coach
"I'm extremely excited to announce that Jon Karcich will be joining our staff as the top assistant coach. Jon brings extensive knowledge from his playing days at Santa Clara, his minor league experience in the Angels organization and his time coaching with me at Stanford. Working with the infielders at Stanford, Jon played a big role in our teams having some of the best fielding percentages in the nation the last few years. With Jon being an alumnus of Santa Clara, he brings a lot of pride to the position. Jon is a man of high character and displays a strong work ethic. Our team will benefit from his expertise and will feed off of his enthusiasm for developing baseball players."
Rusty Filter
Head Baseball Coach
"We are thrilled to have Jon Karcich back in a Bronco uniform. Jon returning to his alma mater to coach baseball is perfect for our program. Jon was a fantastic player at Santa Clara, and I have watched his professional success as a player and as a coach since he was drafted in 2009. I cannot emphasize enough how excited I am for our players to learn from Jon. His strong aptitude for the game and his proven ability to teach will promote an appealing atmosphere for player development that our team will enjoy."
Jeff Mitchell
Senior Associate Athletic Director