Garko blasts onto scene

NILES -- It shouldn't come as a surprise that Ryan Garko homered in his first professional at-bat. All he did at Stanford University was tear up college pitching.
Still, to see the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Garko turn on a two-strike breaking ball and send it over the left-field wall Sunday at Cafaro Field was impressive.
It came in the first inning of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers' game against Lowell, and it turned out to be one of the few highlights in a 15-4 defeat.
"I got down 0-2 [in the count], and I thought how I didn't want to strike out in my first pro at-bat," Garko remembered. "He hung a breaking ball, and I was fortunate enough to put a good swing on it."
Garko finished the game 1-for-3. He was hit by a pitch in his second at-bat before hitting into a double play and flying out to right.
"I just wanted to get my feet wet, have a good approach in all of my at-bats," said Garko, 22, of Walnut, Calif.
Top prospect
The Cleveland Indians selected Garko in the third round of the June amateur draft and assigned him to Mahoning Valley.
As an All-American catcher for Stanford, Garko's professional career was delayed -- for good reason. The Cardinal advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., where they lost a best-of-3 championship series to Rice.
"To play for a national championship is something few athletes get a chance to do. I was lucky to get that opportunity, and it was a real honor to be a part of," Garko said.
"It's a fun atmosphere," he added. "The city of Omaha does a nice job in handling it. All college baseball players should get that experience."
Adding to his resum & eacute;
Garko capped an amazing career at Stanford with a senior year in which he was named Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year, a First Team All-American and the Johnny Bench Award winner, given to the nation's top catcher.
He backs up those honors with these senior numbers based on the 69 games he played for the Cardinal: .402 batting average, 18 home runs and 92 RBIs. He became only the sixth Stanford player to bat over .400 for a season.
Because of the long college season, Garko took a needed break.
"I was home for two weeks. I took about a week off," said Garko, on his schedule immediately following the College World Series. "Then I started working out again at home. I swung the bat around a little bit."
And he began thinking of playing for the Indians organization.
Anticipated arrival
Garko arrived in Niles during the middle of last week to begin his new career. He worked with strength coach Chris Walter while conditioning and taking batting practice with the team.
"I was just trying to get the routine down," he said.
His first impressions of the Mahoning Valley?
"I was amazed," he said. "Looks like they have great fan support, and I was really impressed with how nice these facilities are. It's going to be fun playing here."
In his Stanford biography, Garko is said to be a talented hitter who can hit for power and average; known for his knack of coming up with big hits at critical times; tough to strike out; and an underrated catcher who has made excellent improvements in throwing and receiving.
What can Scrappers fans expect from him?
"I'm going to try to play the game the way it should be played every night," Garko said.
"The thing I learned in school was handling things like a professional and going out and respecting the game.
"Hopefully the results will follow that."
XBrian Richesson is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at richesson@vindy.com.