Krist an anchor for Cal at catcher

OMAHA, Neb. - Cal coach David Esquer believes the biggest compliment he can pay Bears catcher Chadd Krist is that Esquer forgets he's even there.

"I always say the benchmark of a good catcher is the guy you don't really notice," said Esquer. "He's not picking the ball off the ground. He's not chasing it to the backstop. People don't move up (on base) when our pitchers throw it in the dirt. He just doesn't give 90 feet to the opposing team and I'm sure he gets more strikes than our pitchers deserve by the way he receives the ball."

"He's the best catcher that I've coached at Cal. It's such a stabilizing force when your catcher is so anonymous back there."

Someone has noticed Krist, however. The junior from Petaluma High was selected recently by the Chicago White Sox in the 13th round of the major league draft. For now, he remains busy with the Bears (38-22), who meet Virginia (55-11) Thursday at 4 p.m. in a College World Series elimination game.

Virginia defeated Cal 4-1 in the opening game for both teams. Now they're both fighting for survival in the double-elimination tournament. Thursday's winner plays defending national champion South Carolina on Friday night. The loser goes home.

"We got a win under our belt," said Krist, referring to Tuesday's 7-3 victory over Texas A&M. "We got some momentum going, starting to hit the ball and pitch the ball well. We're looking to give Virginia another shot."

Krist, who has played in all 60 games this season, will be right in the middle of the action as usual.

"I like being involved with every pitch," said Krist, who is hitting .297 with 2 homers and a team-leading 43 RBI. "You're not in the outfield where you get a ball every three innings. It's more action. I love working with the pitching staff. It's me and them out there. It's like problem-solving. And I like to have control. I'm a bit of a control freak, so catcher kind of works for me."

Cal left-hander Kyle Porter said his freshman year has been easier knowing he had a veteran like Krist behind the plate.

"I'm able to just look at a sign, point and shoot," said Porter, who got the win against the Aggies. "I don't have to do a lot of thinking out there."

"It helps a ton because he's very even-tempered. He knows the right moments to come out and talk to me. Just having that leadership behind there is huge, not to mention his catching ability is phenomenal and he gets it done with the bat, too."

Cal infielder Tony Renda sometimes finds himself shaking his head as he looks in from second base and sees the beating Krist takes behind the plate.

"He's a tough SOB," said Renda, who is Krist's roommate. "He sits back there game after game and just wears foul balls off the wrist, off the legs and still blocks every ball that comes to him. Then he gets in the batter's box and he wears one off the elbow. And it's like, &‘How in the hell are you doing it?' He's just a hardnosed guy and he gets after it."

Last season in a game against UCLA, one ball bounced in the dirt, hit Krist in the back of the glove and broke the tip of his ring finger. Krist missed one game, taped up the finger and got back behind the plate.

"I kind of wear the balls off my body as a badge of honor," said Krist. "Not everyone can play catcher. You have to have a different mentally. And it comes with bumps and bruises."

And, if you're good, anonymity.