Vazquez Steals Wins for Lions

Just standing on first base, Alexis Vazquez can create an awful lot of stress for opposing teams.

Especially pitchers and catchers, who have the unenviable chore of trying to keep the pride of the Lions from swiping everything but their spikes.

That’s because Vazquez, a senior outfielder, is a base stealer par excellence.

He has been successful in all 17 attempts this season, including two steals of home. He now has 32 steals in his varsity career, three shy of the school’s all-time record held by Albert Rodriguez, who played at Westminster from 1986 to 1988.

Rodriguez went on to play at UC Irvine and in the San Francisco Giants organization. At present, he is an assistant to Westminster Coach Jim Doyle.

Besides being an solid defensive outfielder with an above average arm, Vazquez swings a good bat. He carries a .469 average for the 8-1 Lions (15 for 32), including four doubles, two triples and seven RBIs.

He has pitched seven innings in relief, with three saves and a 1.00 earned-run average.

But speed is Vazquez’s specialty. He has run the 60-yard dash in 6.6 seconds. When not playing baseball for Westminster, he helps out the track team at home meets in the 100-yard dash, and 4 X 100 relay.

And when let loose on the base paths. . .

“In a recent game against Long Beach Poly,” Doyle said, “Alex got to first base, and told their first baseman, ‘I’ll be at home plate in four pitches.’ That’s exactly what happened; he stole second and third, and scored on wild pitch.”

Vazquez calls his running ability a gift, but adds there’s more to baserunning than sheer speed.

“I check every little thing that can help me out,” Vazquez said. “When someone else is on base, I check them out from the bench. And I always study the pitcher no matter where I’m at. That way I know their weaknesses. When I get on base, then I can steal easily with the speed I have.

“I’m at full speed from the first step. Sometimes I’ve been able to steal second or third standing up. That is a gift. I have to use it; there are some players who don’t use all their potential.”

Born in Lawrence, Mass., Vazquez and his three siblings moved around because his mother Eva Vazquez, who worked for the U.S. Journal Accounting Office, was assigned duties in the United States and overseas. From ages 3 to 11, Vazquez lived in Panama. When reassigned to Washington, the family moved to Woodbridge, Va.

Upon reaching high school age, Vazquez first visited California when older sister Gisela, and then-husband, Gerald Dennis, who was a teacher and freshman baseball coach at Loara, became his legal guardians in 1991.

But after his freshman year, his mother requested he return to Virginia, in part to help out financially.

Vazquez enrolled in Potomac (Va.) High, but soon ran into trouble. He broke up with a girl he was dating. Her new boyfriend was a gang member who did not appreciate that she and Vazquez were still friends.

“They weren’t trying to force me to join the gangs, but I was getting beat up a lot,” Vazquez said. “It was every day; I couldn’t even walk out of my house. I once had 20 guys come up to my house, waiting for me to come out.”

Vazquez missed many classes. Being unable to transfer to another school, he quit Potomac in the second semester of his sophomore year. He was unsure what would happen, until Gisela and Dennis agreed to move back to California in 1993.

Still a sophomore, he started on the Westminster junior varsity team in 1994, but soon was promoted to the varsity. Then Coach Brian Batesole, however, restricted Vazquez to bunting. And that’s how teams played him defensively; he wound up batting .111.

“It hurt me because I knew I could hit,” Vazquez said. “I didn’t care about baseball much that year; I felt it was taken away from me. But I didn’t get discouraged, because I knew I wasn’t being used to my full potential.

“Last year when Coach Doyle came, it started all brand new. He didn’t know who was good or bad, and gave me the chance to hit and prove myself.”

Last season Vazquez batted .362 (25 for 69), with 15 runs batted in and 15 stolen bases. This season Doyle has turned him loose, letting Vazquez run if he thinks he can steal the base.

There are few teams that embrace the running game the way the Lions do. In its first eight games, Westminster had stolen 70 bases in 77 attempts, with a high of 13 against Torrance.

Because their home park is not power-friendly, the Lions depend more on their legs than brute force.

“I feel a pitcher can get out of his game rhythm not concentrating on the batter. And running creates [defensive] holes for our hitters,” Doyle said.

“We run at all times, unless we’re up by eight runs. But even if we’re down by 20 I’ll still run until I know their catcher can throw us out 80% of the time.”