Quakertown senior Vinnie LaCava will be playing collegiate baseball at DeSales University.
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Vinnie LaCava – DeSales University (Baseball)
Major: Business Administration
Final list of colleges: DeSales, Millersville, Widener
Reasons for choosing DeSales: “My sister graduated from DeSales, and she talked about how nice it was. They have the program I want, and they just made a new business school, which is perfect for me. I have an opportunity to play baseball there for coach (Tim) Neiman, and he’s like a legend there. I’ve known him since I was young, and it’s a great opportunity for me.”
What was the progression that led you to playing collegiate baseball? “I started thinking about it my junior year when I made varsity. We started to compete better, and I thought maybe I would have a chance. I just went for it and started going to prospect camps. My senior came around, and I finally got the opportunity.”
Coach Jon Pallone says: “Vinnie was like a quiet competitor. He’s very confident in himself, and he kept us in a lot of games. We had that mentality to get over that we do belong, and he always believed that we belonged. He threw a lot of games for us. The first time we played Pennridge we lost to them by one run, but it was after he came out. He left us with the lead. We played Palisades in a non-league game, and he wasn’t supposed to be in relief, but I told him, ‘I might use you for an inning if I need to.’ We get to the game, and we’re down one. He said, ‘Give me the ball.’ I said, ‘You’re going to be pitching Monday or Tuesday.’ He said, ‘I’ll be all right, I’ll be all right. I want to win this game.’ We were playing four or five games a week, and I figured I’d give him a day off. He takes the ball, goes two innings and we came back and got the win. Then he comes back and he throws against Pennridge a second time. In the CB East game, we ran his pitch count up, but we got our first league win in a couple of years.
“I’ve talked to him since the beginning of the year, and DeSales is where he wanted to go whether he played or not. He was talking to a couple of other schools, but he really wanted to go there. I actually went to school there, and I’m happy it worked out for him. I’ve watched him develop from a wild 14-year-old with a lot of movement on his two seamer to become more accurate and develop a nice change and curve. I think he’ll translate well as a pitcher there.”
About Vinnie:
Favorite food: Fettuccine Alfredo
Favorite movie: Sandlot
Favorite music: Beachin’ by Jake Owen
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