ThomasMcCarthy

McCarthy’s 2011 in Pictures

• Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week (5/16/11)
• Baseball Hall of Fame National All-Star Lineup (5/19/11)
• 2011 first-team All-SEC third base (coaches)
• SEC Academic Honor Roll (2011)
• 2012 preseason first-team All-SEC (College Baseball Daily)
• Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Nominee

Outlook
Earned first-team All-SEC honors as UK’s everyday third baseman in 2011, the first UK third sacker to earn first-team All-SEC honors since Jim Lett in 1972 … Led UK in nearly every offensive category as a junior, including average (.371), doubles (19) and slugging (.581) … Is a good defender at third base … After playing 24 games in the Northwoods League during the summer, returned to Lexington to work at adding strength in the weight room … Has the ability to hit for average and be a middle-of-the-order presence … Fills up the gaps with line drives … Launched seven homers in 2011, including the game-winning bomb vs. No. 1 Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray … Hit .385 during the fall, with seven doubles and one homer, with over 60-percent of his appearances at the plate going as quality at bats … Owns a 3.4 GPA as a psychology major and is active in the community, making him a prime canidiate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

Summer
Played in 24 games for the La Cross Loggers in the talent-rich Northwoods League, joining UK teammate Cameron Flynn on the Loggers … Hit .159 (14-for-88) with three doubles, two homers and 18 RBI … Scored nine runs and had a 9-16 walk-strikeout ratio … Returned to Lexington after 24 games for extended work in the weight room, joining pitcher Corey Littrell and others in an extensive weight training regimen.

2011
Emerged as UK’s top hitter during his first year in Lexington, earning first-team All-SEC honors at third base … Became UK’s first, All-SEC third sacker since Jim Lett in 1972 … Led UK with a .371 average, pacing the team in hits (78), doubles (19), slugging (.581), two-out hits (31) and two-out RBI (20) … McCarthy’s 78 hits are the most for a UK player in a season since Chris Bisson in 2009 … Totaled a staggering .411 mark in SEC play, finishing just shy of the SEC batting title … Ranked fourth in the SEC in average, fourth in slugging, third in hits, third in doubles, 12th in homers and sixth in total bases … McCarthy’s 19 doubles rank 13th-best in UK single-season history … Reached base safely in 53 of 54 starting assignments in 2011 … Led UK with seven game-winning RBI … Finished his season on a 10-game hitting streak, batting a blistering .605 (26-for-43) during that stretch with 16 RBI and three homers … During the hitting streak, had a seven-game stretch with at least three hits … Was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week and College Baseball Hall of Fame National All-Star Lineup after carrying UK to a series win over Georgia, batting .714 with eight RBI during the series … With a .371 mark, McCarthy’s average is the best for a UK player since Sawyer Carroll hit .419 in 2008 and his average is the second-best for a UK player since Josh Loggins hit .384 in 1998 … Became the sixth junior college product to lead UK in hitting over the last seven seasons … Had a stretch of six consecutive games with a double early in the year … Started 53 games at third base and one game at second base … Had a stretch of 15 consecutive games reaching base safely until getting a day off at No. 3 South Carolina … Had a nine-game hitting streak snapped at the 2011 Houston College Classic after a three-walk outing … With runners in scoring position, hit .362 (25-for-69) and led UK in two-out hitting, totaling 31 two-out hits and 20 two-out RBI, batting .413 (31-for-75) … Hit all over the order, batting everywhere in the lineup but No. 1, seeing 27 starts as the cleanup hitter, batting .413 (43-for-104) with three homers and 22 RBI as the No. 4 hitter … The biggest hit of his year came as a solo homer to break a scoreless tie off Vanderbilt All-America righty Sonny Gray, lifting UK to a 2-0 win over the No. 1 ranked Dores … Launched seven homers on the year, including the homer off Gray and roundtrippers off Georgia ace Michael Palazzone and Auburn ace Derek Varnadore … Led UK in home games, batting .367 with all seven homers and 33 RBI at Cliff Hagan Stadium … In UK’s 22 night games, McCarthy hit .457 (42-for-92) with eight doubles, one triple, three homers and 20 RBI … Was UK’s top hitter in Alex Meyer’s starts, batting .439 (25-for-57) with eight doubles, two homers and 10 RBI in 14 games … Hit .344 (10-for-29) in February, .284 (19-for-67) in March, .324 (22-for-68) in April and a staggering .605 (26-for-43) in May … Had a career game in UK’s series-clinching win over Georgia on May 14, batting 4-for-5 with four RBI and his first career two-homer game … Added four hits in UK’s 14-1 win at No. 4 Florida on May 20, collecting a career-high five RBI in a win over Xavier on April 5.

Junior College
Played at Western Oregon University and Feather River College for coaches Jeremiah Robbins and Terry Baumgartner … In 2010, as a sophomore at Feather River College, he batted .415 with 59 hits, 39 runs, 14 doubles, three homers and 36 RBI, drawing 11 walks, thus earning a unanimous first-team selection in the Golden Valley Conference at third base… Prior to the 2010 season, he was named a preseason All-America selection in the infield in Northern California Junior College … As a Freshman at Western Oregon in 2009, he set the single-season record for batting average as he hit .461 with 59 hits, 22 runs, eight doubles, three homers and 27 RBI, drawing 14 walks… Named freshman of the year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference… Led his American Legion team to the state championship (Oregon) in the summer of 2009.

High School
Three-year letterwinner for coach Dave Mintken at Crescent Valley High School … Hit .467 as a senior and .424 as a junior … Played basketball for four years, lettering three seasons.

Thomas McCarthy

Personal
Full name is Thomas Joseph McCarthy … Son of Kevin and Kathy … Has a brother, Greg (27) and a sister, Lauren (24) … Born July 25 in Corvallis, Ore. … Brother Greg played baseball at Western Oregon University and in the San Francisco Giants organization … Greg batted .285 (39-for-137) in 41 games in 2002 with Western Oregon and played in 56 minor league games with a .254 average with 10 doubles, three homers and 26 RBI … Greg played baseball with UK head coach Gary Henderson’s oldest son, Alex, while the Henderson’s lived in Corvallis.

Thomas McCarthy 2011 Notes
• UK junior third baseman Thomas McCarthy led UK in hitting with a .371 average, becoming the sixth junior college transfer in the last seven years to lead UK in average.
• McCarthy led UK in hits (78), doubles (19), slugging (.581), two-out hits (31) and two-out RBI (20).
• McCarthy’s 78 hits are the most for a UK player since Chris Bisson collected a team-high 80 in 2009.
• With 19 doubles, McCarthy finished ranked 13th in UK single-season history.
• McCarthy ranked among the SEC leaders in average (fourth), slugging (fourth), hits (third), doubles (third), homers (12th) and total bases (sixth).
• McCarthy became UK’s first third baseman voted by the league coaches to the All-SEC first team since Jim Lett in 1972.
• In SEC play alone, McCarthy finished just shy of the batting title, ranking third in average (.411), fourth in slugging (.652), seventh in on-base percentage (.459), fifth in hits (46), fourth in triples (two), fifth in homers (five), sixth in total bases (73).
• McCarthy hit .413 (31-for-75) with two outs and 20 of his 39 RBI came with two down.
• McCarthy’s .371 overall batting average is the best for a UK player since Sawyer Carroll hit .419 in 2008. McCarthy’s average is the second-best average for a UK player since Josh Loggins posted a .384 mark in 1998.
• Was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball, College Baseball Hall of Fame National All-Star Lineup after carrying UK to a series with over Georgia with a .714 average and eight RBI during the three-game series.
• Finished the year on a career-high 10-game hitting streak, batting .605 (26-for-43) with three doubles, one triple, three homers and 16 RBI during the steak.
• Reached base safely in 53 of his 55 starting assignments in 2011.
• Led UK with seven game-winning RBI.
• Totaled 22 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games, finishing the season on a career-high 10-game hitting streak. Also owned a nine-game hitting streak early in the year that was snapped in a three-walk game.