For starters: A transfer from Briarcliffe College, where he was named a USCAA Honorable Mention All-American…Cousin of Milwaukee Brewers bullpen coach Bill Castro…Could emerge as the ace of the NJCU rotation.
Briarcliffe College, 2005-06: Pitched two seasons for the Seahawks, which won the 2006 United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Invitational Baseball Tournament…Named to the USCAA All-Tournament team as an infielder…also earned a five-out save in the tournament semifinals…Selected to the 2006 USCAA Honorable Mention All-America team…Seahawks also won the 2005 NJCAA Region XV title.
High School: An August 2004 graduate of Alfred E. Smith High School in Bronx, NY, where he played one season of varsity for the Warriors and Coach Irizarry…Played in the PSAL Bronx A playoffs with the Warriors and the senior all star game…Broke the Walton single-season strikeout record with 73 in 42 innings…Led the PSAL Bronx A division in strikeouts.
Personal: Baldwin Vargas…Born June 1, 1986 in Bronx, NY…Nickname is Bartolo…Mother is Bernardina Checo…Has two sisters (Tatiana and Cherami L. Vargas) and one brother (Luis Checo)… Cousin of Milwaukee Brewers bullpen coach Bill Castro, who has served with the club since 1991, and pitched in the major leagues from 1974-80 and 1983…Bats and throws right-handed…Major at NJCU is Computer Science…would like to work for an electrical union…a member of the fraternity Chi Theta Sigma…the first member of his family to go to college…Once lived in the Dominican Republic…Favorite baseball movie is 61*.
Favorites:
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Hobbies/interest:
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Video games, cars
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NJCU Class:
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--
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Hero/Idol:
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Bartolo Colon
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Sports Team:
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Detroit Pistons
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Song:
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Fraternity song “Chi Till I Die”
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Music Artist:
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Shai
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Movie:
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61*
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Food:
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Mangu Con Queso
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Favorite TV Show:
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Favorite Baseball Player:
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What do you like most about NJCU?:
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The baseball program
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What do you like most about Coach Heaton?
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He is a straight forward kind of guy
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2007 Highlights: (03/31 vs. William Paterson University): Tossed a 162-pitch nine-inning complete game he totaled eight strikeouts and five walks, allowing five earned runs and nine hits to even his record at 2-2. He faced four or less batters in seven of his nine innings of work...(04/07 vs. The College of New Jersey): Much of game two was a pitchers’ duel as neither school registered a hit until the fifth inning. Vargas had a no-hitter going until one out in the sixth. Suffered the loss (2-3), allowing only two earned runs (seven total) and five hits, including four singles over 8.0 innings. He struck out six and walked five, and the Knights committed five errors behind him ...(04/11 at Lehman College): Fanned three batters swinging in the seventh inning and did not allow a hit...(04/20 at Kean University): Took the loss (3-4). NJCU used four pitchers in all... (04/21 at Rutgers University-Camden): Recorded a huge save with a three-pitch strikeout, as the Gothic Knights defeated Rutgers University-Camden 7-5 in game one as he entered the game with the tying runs in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth inning and recorded a game-ending strikeout... (04/26 vs. Montclair State University): Took the loss (3-5), allowing six earned runs and 11 hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked one...
2008 Highlights: (04/04 at #3/10 Kean University): The only player in the NJAC drafted last year by Major League Baseball, did a solid job limiting the potent Kean offense, which was held to four or fewer runs in a game for only the seventh time in 25 games. In 6.0 innings, he allowed just four hits and four runs, striking out four with three walks over 88 pitches. Vargas stopped senior rightfielder Derek Gianakas (Edison, NJ/Edison)—this week’s Division III National Hitter of the Week—who was held hitless in two at bats...(04/19 at Ramapo College): Took the loss (0-4), allowing one earned run and just five hits, with one strikeout...(04/26 vs. Rutgers-Camden University): In a historic performance, the 43rd round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 2007 and the only NJAC player to be drafted, came back for his senior season and finished off his home career by striking out 14 of the 28 batters he faced. The 14 strikeouts are the most ever by an NJCU pitcher against an NJAC opponent and the second most in a game in the 61-year history of the program. Only Harry Durkee with 17 strikeouts against Jersey City Junior College in 1949 has more strikeouts in an outing... (05/03 at The College of Staten Island): Tossed a seven-inning complete-game performance in the nightcap, striking out eight, while allowing just one earned run and five hits. In the final 14 innings of his NJCU career, he struck out 22 batters...
