Vigue Looking Forward To Competition At The Next Level

LEOMINSTER, Ma. - The desire to be patient with the recruiting process had ups and downs for Dylan Vigue.

“I talked with a ton of schools from the SEC, ACC, Ivy, A-10 and Patriot the past couple of years,” Vigue related. “Who I talked to changed over the years. I was very honest with them that I wanted to take my time and some of those opportunities went away. One of the big things with the whole process is I wanted to visit every school I was interested in, talk to the coaches and have my parents involved.”

Three things played a role in the University of  Massachusetts Amherst eventually winning out as the top choice for Vigue.

“Academics is important to me, Division I baseball is important, and I love the northeast which is close to home,” Vigue pointed out. “Add those factors together and it made it a good fit for me.”

There was one more thing that helped make it perfect for Vigue, who was recruited by UMass Amherst assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Mark Royer, who set up a tour of the university and a week later in early September a commitment was made.

“They like my ability to pitch and also that I can play the other side as a two-way,” the fifth-rated 2023 shortstop in New England  noted. “That was definitely a big thing. I’ve been a two-way my entire life and I wanted a chance to continue that at the next level. I enjoy playing both sides and I believe I really have the ability to contribute on both sides.”

The Groton High School senior pointed to a number of variables that proved beneficial in making a commitment to UMass Amherst a reality.

“Growing up I always had a dream of playing college baseball but I didn’t think it was reasonable until I transferred and reclassified,” explained Vigue, who spent two years at St. John’s before reclassifying and attending Groton, where he is now in his third and final year at the school. “I wasn’t very big but I hit a growth spurt and my velocity hit 91 in March. That was also very big for me.”

It helped accelerate a recruiting process that was not what the 22nd-rated 2023 in New England had hoped.

“It definitely started very slow,” Vigue said. “My first school season there was Covid and even in the fall things were not 100 percent on schedule. There really wasn’t much exposure the first two years. Then I went to the PBR Future Games (in 2021) and that was definitely very big with a lot of coaches reaching out. I’d done local PBRs as well which were good for numbers and getting videos to send out to coaches.”

Improvement also was vital in the cause.

“The big thing I added last offseason was strength,” the 6-3 200-pounder explained. “It was the first year I really got in the weight room and had a plan to develop. That was a big contributor in adding to my velocity.”

There was a number of people that helped along the way, according to Vigue, including his parents, John DeRouin (pitching), Scott Patterson (hitting), Mike Abraham (travel ball coach), Shane Davenport (strength coach), Sean Smith (strength coach), Miguel Aragoncillo (strength coach/licensed massage therapist) and Jason Ferber (travel ball coach).

“This was definitely a very big decision for me and my parents, it took two days to weigh all the options out,” Vigue said about what was going on leading up to the commitment. “Once I told the coach to make it official, it was a big weight off my shoulders. When I committed it was satisfying to see all the work I had put in the last two seasons had paid off.”

Marketing or management will be the college major according to the 14th-rated 2023 in Massachusetts, who is happy to be going to a school located just an hour from home.

“That was definitely a factor,” the 18-year-old admitted. “My parents have been to most of my games and it was very important for me to have them be able to come to some games, so I’m excited about that.”

There is more that Vigue is exuberant about when it comes to being part of the Atlantic 10 Conference program.

“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to is competing with other guys that want to be competing and want to win as badly as I do,” Vigue concluded. “I’ve seen that playing at the national level and I look forward to doing it in college.”