Vega Sets The Table For Division III Baseball Champs

Eron Vega was a middle of the batting order hitter and mostly a pitcher-first baseman when he entered the Denison University baseball program a couple of years ago.

But the Evanston Township High School product took a different path and found a road to the top that climaxed last week with a national championship.

Vega set the table as Denison’s leadoff hitter and helped the Big Red claim the NCAA Division III national title --- their first in program history --- in dramatic fashion last Thursday. Denison finished a remarkable season with a 51-3 won-loss record after defeating Endicott University of Massachusetts in a best two-of-three championship series held in Eastlake, Ohio.

Vega, who shifted to second base at the end of last season, was one of six Denison players to earn all-tournament recognition. The sophomore standout batted .377 in eight games at the College World Series, just off the .389 average he posted for the entire season.

Vega registered at least one hit in every World Series game and helped the Big Red bounce back after a loss to East Texas Baptist in the tournament opener in the double-elimination format. The Big Red, based in Granville (Ohio), won the championship series opener over Endicott, and the two teams split a pair of 10-inning thrillers in Thursday’s finale.

In Game 2, Vega scored the tying run in the top of the 9^th inning in Game 2, after reaching base with a check-swing single, before Endicott answered in the bottom of the 10^th and snatched an 11-10 victory.

In Game 3, Vega’s single to center pushed the potential winning run to second base in the bottom of the 10^th and teammate Jack Lutte doubled off the wall for a 4-3 triumph to trigger a celebratory dogpile on the mound for the new champs.

It was the climax of a record-setting season for Denison, which tied the single season Division III mark for consecutive victories with 44 in a row and won the big trophy in just their second trip to the CWS.

And Vega wasn’t the only ETHS product who played a significant role. Senior Alex Vasquez, a three-year starter at shortstop for Denison, couldn’t get on the field after suffering a season-ending knee injury during a fall practice, but joined the Big Red for the championship ride as the first base coach.

Head coach Mike Deegan’s squad batted a robust .351 collectively this spring with a dominating performance rarely seen on the diamond at the collegiate level.

“The people we have in our program are our special sauce, and that includes Eron and Alex,” Deegan said. “Alex was such a selfless teammate who never complained after the injury. In 20 years of coaching I’ve never seen anyone handle adversity as well as he did. He didn’t miss a practice or a game for us, unless he was rehabbing his injury.

“Eron had a monster year for us at second base and at the plate. He emerged as a premier type of hitter, one of the real front-line bats in all of Division III. He’s not a traditional leadoff hitter, but he showed some power --- more this year than last year --- and went from a singles hitter to a doubles hitter. He added about 15-20 pounds and became a lot stronger.”

Vega found out last season that the best way for him to get a spot in the starting lineup was to try his luck at second base. He hit a solid .310 with just 71 at-bats as freshman and usually batted in the No. 9 slot when he did nail down the starting job. Vega finished the season strong, earning a spot on the North Coast Athletic Conference all-tournament team for a squad that also advanced to the College World Series.

When no one else emerged as a typical leadoff hitter this spring, Deegan chose Vega to set the table for All-American hitters Lutte and Erik Sundgren behind him.

It might have been the best move the coach made all season. Vega’s OPS of 1.070 included 73 runs scored, 81 hits and 37 runs-batted-in. He drew 25 walks, was hit by a pitch a bruising 20 times, and only struck out 15 times in more than 250 plate appearances.

“At first I was a little less aggressive at the plate than I usually am,” Vega said of his move to the top of the batting order. “I wanted to see what the (opposing) pitcher was throwing and give the other guys behind me some feedback, because they’re the best hitters in the country. I tried to limit my strikeouts and see as many pitches as I could.

“100 percent, it was an adjustment for me. There are a lot of different profiles for leadoff hitters in the game now and I’m not one of those slappy hitters who’s fast and steals a lot of bases. My job was just to get on base any way I could.”

Vega found more extra-base pop in his bat this spring, racking up 13 doubles, a team-high three triples and seven home runs.

“We have an amazing strength and conditioning coach and we really get after it in the weight room,” he noted. “I started hitting the ball a lot harder because I was in the weight room a lot more this year, and our approach was way more intense as a team. We destroyed our bodies in there.

“After our streak ended and we lost that first game, we knew we were still resilient enough to win the championship. With our backs to the wall we knew we’d fight, and claw, and do anything we had to do to win it. Playing for the guys around you, the staff around you, the alumni and winning it was amazing. It’s something I’ll never forget, something no one can take away from me.”

Vega’s decision to play at Denison was almost entirely due to the mutual admiration between him and Vasquez, who was a role model when Vega moved up to the varsity roster as a high school freshman at the end of the season.

“Me and Alex are very good friends. He’s someone I’ve always looked up to, seeing how he approaches the game and how he handles himself as a person,” Vega said. “I paid more attention to Denison because he was there. He’s an amazing person. When you have to miss your senior year like he did, that’s rough, but he was unbelievable with the way he handled it”

Vasquez batted a career-best .284 as a junior after making steady progress from .252 as a freshman and .269 as a sophomore. But Big Red fans never got a chance to see him at his best when he suffered the knee injury during a baserunning drill in the first fall practice.

He held out hope he could return to action in time for regional tournament play, but wasn’t ready physically at that point. So he volunteered his services as a first base coach after helping prepare his replacement at shortstop, Northwestern University transfer Kelly Crittenberger, sharpen his defensive skills in daily practice sessions.

“Not being on the field was very hard for me to deal with at first,” Vasquez admitted. “I had a lot of 1-on-1 talks with Coach Deegan, and it took me awhile to process it. But then I found a role that mattered to me and I was able to still share the field with my teammates. That helped me keep sane. I still felt like I was a big part of it.

“It was an awesome experience to be with my teammates and finish my career with a win for the national championship. I came here with the goal of winning a national championship and this is something pretty special.”