Incoming TCU baseball player, a recent Paschal grad, killed in wreck

A recent Paschal High School graduate who had signed to play baseball at TCU died in a one-vehicle wreck on the Chisholm Trail Parkway early Thursday.

Drew Medford, 18, was pronounced dead about 3 a.m., according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The one-vehicle wreck occurred about 2:45 a.m. near the Interstate 20 exit, authorities said.

Medford was driving a black Volkswagen north when he “failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway,” according to a preliminary DPS report. Medford’s car then struck an exit sign and hit a concrete barrier, the report said.

The DPS, which patrols the toll road, was still investigating the crash Thursday afternoon.

Medford graduated in June from Paschal, where he pitched and played catcher on the baseball team.

He earned all-state honors his senior season and was named MVP of District 4-6A, said his coach, Darrell Preston. Medford also was one of four area pitchers named to the Star-Telegram Super Team.

Preston heard the news of Medford’s death about 8 a.m. Thursday. Preston was driving to work and had to pull to the side of the road.

“My heart sank,” Preston said. “Everybody knows he’s an unbelievable baseball player, but his personality was infectious. You get into this profession and you coach these kids and treat them like they’re your own son.”

Medford had started working out with the TCU baseball team this summer, Preston said, and was set to start classes Monday.

“A hometown kid playing at a hometown program is probably every kid’s dream,” Preston said. “He was just about to start that journey.”

TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said Medford was “driven to do well” and constantly texted with questions about preparing for college baseball.

“Wanting to make sure he was doing the right things and following the rules,” Schlossnagle said. “He was just so excited to be able to go to TCU.”

Schlossnagle said Medford was going to pitch for the Horned Frogs but also described him as “a really good catcher and very good defensive player” who had gotten bigger and stronger in the summer baseball program.

He said Medford, like former TCU pitcher and current Major League Baseball pitcher Brandon Finnegan of Fort Worth Southwest, was a local player who wanted to stay local.

“There’s been times when there’s been good players in Fort Worth and we’ve tried to get them to come to TCU, and sometimes being the home school is not good because they want to get away from home,” Schlossnagle said. “But like Brandon, he was a kid that really wanted to be here. I felt at some point, he was going to make a really good impact on our program.”

Paschal arranged for a vigil at the campus football practice field Thursday night. Principal Terri Mossige, coaches and a minister spoke, as did Medford’s teammate and fellow 2016 graduate Zach Shaw.

“We mourn for him, we cry for him and we’re allowed to. We’re allowed to look up and see him and know that he’s watching and that he’ll take care of each and every one of us because he had the biggest heart in the world,” said Shaw, who said he met Medford in kindergarten.

“He had a passion for the game and it wasn’t just for baseball, he had a passion for everything he did. He was more than a best friend to us, he was our brother.”

Here’s a video featuring Medford after he signed with TCU in November:

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 7:58 AM with the headline "Incoming TCU baseball player, a recent Paschal grad, killed in wreck."