Paschal community mourns death of recent baseball grad
Friends, family, students, coaches and teachers gathered around the Paschal High School football field on a rainy Thursday evening, but it wasn’t where any of them wanted to be.
They were drawn together in grief at the death early Thursday of Drew Medford, 18, who was killed in a one-vehicle wreck on the Chisholm Trail Parkway.
“It’s not the place we planned to be nor is the place we want to be right now. We’re seeking answers, but as we begin tonight, the one thing I do want to remind everybody is that we as a community will be able to get through this,” Paschal principal Terri Mossige said.
“We know you’ve lost one of your own and there’s a lot of things we can’t control in life and our hearts are extremely heavy.”
Medford was pronounced dead at the scene about 3 a.m., according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He was driving 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.
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. Medford also was one of four area pitchers named to the Star-Telegram Super Team.
Thursday night, Medford’s Paschal teammates, his friends, football players, cheerleaders, most of them wearing TCU shirts, shared thoughts and memories.
Matt Miracle, Paschal’s head football coach and athletic coordinator, is a friend of the Medford family.
“I’ve actually known Drew longer than the two years that I’ve been here at Paschal. We knew Drew before he was Drew. My heart is broken and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” Miracle said. “I love the Medford family, love the Paschal family and we will get through this. We will always have Drew in our hearts.”
Paschal head baseball coach Darrell Preston first met Drew in 2007, his first year at the school.
“I look out here tonight and all I see is love for Drew Medford. We still do and he will always be remembered. He was an unbelievable person,” Preston said.
“He had passion at what he did. It was no accident he would be playing baseball at one of the top baseball programs in the nation. The work he put in, the love and the passion he had for the game, Drew loved competition and Drew wouldn’t back down to anyone. He will be missed, but never forgotten.”
Even a couple of his teammates spoke, such as 2016 graduates Sergio Conchas and Zach Shaw.
“I’ve known Drew since I was 5. He’s the greatest person I have ever met in my life. He just loved baseball and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be who I am,” Conchas said. “He will be missed and he will always be my brother.”
“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 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.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Paschal community mourns death of recent baseball grad."