Marblehead native Will Vigneron’s set to graduate from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this weekend. But due to another commitment, Vigneron won’t be able to attend his graduation and won’t walk the stage this weekend.
Instead, Vigneron will be in Pittsburg, Kansas with the St. Joseph’s club baseball team playing in the National Club Baseball Association Division II World Series. Vigneron’s one of eight seniors on the Hawks roster and the team’s designated hitter. He bats third in St. Joseph’s order.
“There’s three of us seniors here now and the rest will make the trip later on next week,” Vigneron said. “The three seniors who are here now, our parents understand and are all cool with it. They’ll be flying down too. It’s a cool reason to be skipping graduation.”
Vigneron, a 2014 Bishop Fenwick graduate, played two years of varsity baseball for the Crusaders. He was also a member of Fenwick’s golf team.
During his freshman year at St. Joseph’s, Vigneron joined the school’s club golf team. It wasn’t until his junior year that he decided to follow a handful of his friends who joined St. Joseph’s club baseball team. This is his second season as the Hawks designated hitter.
“I played club golf my first two years,” Vigneron, a marketing and business analytics major, said. “I played high school baseball at Fenwick. My junior year, a bunch of my friends decided to join the club baseball team. One thing led to the the next.”
St. Joseph’s is 17-3 overall this season. The Hawks sealed their bid in the World Series after winning the Chesapeake Regional Tournament in Virginia. They come into the World Series as the No. 7 seed in the bracket.
“Our pitching was very good all season,” Vigneron said. “We have a strong senior presence. We have eight seniors and all eight of them play. We have great leadership and that’s great for the younger players on our team.
“Hopefully we just keep doing what we’ve been doing all season,” Vigneron added. “We hit the ball well in Virginia. The pitching has been very good, the starters and relievers are all pitching well. Hopefully we can string together a couple wins, get the rest of the seniors down here and pull this thing out.”
It took a team effort for St. Joseph’s to make the trip down to Kansas. They majority of the team flew down Thursday and the group rented two vans and a car to travel to Jaycee Ballpark, where all the tournament’s games will be played.
The double-elimination style tournament kicked off Friday morning. St. Joseph’s won its first game of the tournament, 4-2, over No. 2 seed and Rocky Lone Star Regional Champion Metro State. The Hawks play No. 3 Pittsburg State this afternoon (4).
Vigneron believes St. Joseph’s run to the World Series bodes well for the program moving forward.
“This is a great experience for the underclassmen,” Vigneron said. “They’re very talented and skilled. We have a ton of freshmen and sophomores that are all very good players. We’re graduating are No. 2 through No.7 hitters. I think this experience will help next year’s team.”
