ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Costic Label Reads ‘Handle With Care’

Tim Costic of Monroe High spent most of the season anchored to first base, watching other players on his team do what he thought he should have been doing all along--pitching.

Costic, his throwing limited by a tender elbow, was a left out left-hander. First base was not his first choice.

Last week, however, the junior was back on the pitcher’s mound. And, despite a three-month layoff, he ate up the opposition and helped the Vikings to two victories last week in the City Section 4-A Division playoffs.

Costic saved a 4-2 win over Poly, recording the final three outs in the eighth inning. On Friday, he started and went eight innings in the Vikings’ 5-4 win over Banning, allowing eight hits while striking out three.

“I figured if we got four innings out of him we’d be OK,” Monroe Coach Kevin Campbell said. “But he was around the plate, and he didn’t throw a lot of pitches, so we left him in there.”

Monroe, which finished Mid-Valley play at 5-10, earned a playoff berth by defeating Birmingham on May 20 to earn the league’s No. 4 playoff position. Costic was 3 for 4, including a double, in the 13-4 win.

His prowess at the plate in the playoffs is not nearly as surprising as his performance on the mound. In regular-season play, he had 8 doubles, 4 triples, 4 home runs and 29 runs batted in, all team highs, and he batted .413, second best on the team.

Yet in Monroe’s first two playoff games, he has moved to an even higher plane. With Monroe and Banning tied, 2-2, after seven innings, Costic must have decided eight would be enough. In the top of the eighth, he blasted a three-run homer over the fence in right-center field, his fifth homer of the year. He already had tripled home a run in the fourth.

Against Poly, Costic also delivered in extra innings, driving in the winning run in the eighth inning.