Maria Carrillo graduate Andrew Vaughn had a tremendous 2016 season by all accounts, which culminated in him being named the Most Valuable Player of the North Bay League following a strong senior campaign. But that was nothing compared to the spring and summer of 2017, when Vaughn took the Pac-12, the NCAA, and the world by storm.
In his freshman year on the campus of UC Berkeley, Vaughn quickly became a household name in the Pac-12, and a feared middle of the lineup hitter to opposing schools. He was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a First-Team Freshman All-American by multiple outlets, after hitting .349 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI.
Having played middle infield in high school, Vaughn started all 54 games for the Golden Bears at first base, and made just two errors all season. In the middle of April, he earned Pac-12 and National Player of the Week honors, hitting a pair of walk-off home runs in a series against USC, one in which he went 7-for-15 with three home runs and 12 RBI.
As his numbers would certainly indicate, Vaughn was never intimidated by the thought of graduating from high school to collegiate baseball.
“I knew it was the same game, still baseball. I just treated it like it was just a game,” said Vaughn. “I trusted the process, and knew I could perform at this level. It feels like this year was done in the snap of a finger.”
The 5-foot-11, 208-pound standout amazingly hit just a single home run in high school, but tied for the Pac-12 lead in home runs as a freshman at the next level. And the power boost came not only from a work ethic which includes the weight room, but also from a simpler outlook at the plate.
“In high school, I tried to supply my own power,” Vaughn said. “In college, I just try to make a good move on the ball.”
Following his strong freshman campaign, which included 10 appearances on the mound as a reliever, Vaughn was selected as a member of the USA Baseball collegiate team. The team went 15-5 for the summer season, including a 10-4 mark against international competition. Those games featured five-game sets against both Cuba and Japan. In the fifth and deciding game of the series against Japan, Vaughn had two hits and a RBI in the 3-1 victory, and was subsequently named the series MVP.
“The Japanese are some nasty pitchers, with a lot of real good four-pitch mixes,” Vaughn said. “You can’t guess against them, so it was a tremendous honor to do well and get recognized for that.”
His most memorable moment of the summer, however, came during the series against Cuba, most notably in the third game of the series. The USA team had previously swept Chinese Taipei in four games, and had won the first two games of the series against Cuba, needing one more win to clinch the series victory. That third win happened to come on July 4, at BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Vaughn collected just one hit in that particular game, but the memory of the 5-0 win over Cuba remains strong.
“That was just an incredible moment, being able to wear USA across my chest while playing in front of 12,000 fans in Charlotte on the fourth of July,” Vaughn recalled. “It was just so humbling to hear the crown chanting ‘U-S-A’ and know they were chanting for us.”
Now, Vaughn will take some time off for the rest of the summer, enjoying some fishing and time away with the family. But his eye is already on the weight room, and how he can physically prepare himself for greater success in his sophomore season. That’s certainly not something opposing pitchers in the Pac-12 are excited to hear.
