LSUE’s Vaz joins McNeese staff

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese head baseball coach Justin Hill has kicked off his first full offseason by naming former All-American and Major League draft pick Roberto Vaz as an assistant coach for the Cowboys.
Vaz replaces Matt Collins who accepted a similar position at Stephen F. Austin.
“We are very excited to have Roberto serve as our new assistant coach,” said Hill. “It's no surprise to anyone who knows him that he has made a seamless transition from player to coach. He was a tremendous collegiate player at Alabama, a high draft pick, and a champion in the professional ranks.”
Vaz’s duties at McNeese will include serving as the team’s hitting coach, working with the outfielders and coaching third base. He will also assist with recruiting.
“I've seen him in action, and he has great energy and an infectious personality,” Hill explained. “More importantly, he is a man of high character and great work ethic that will make a tremendous impact on our student-athletes and our baseball program as a whole.”
Vaz, a native of Brooklyn, New York, comes to McNeese after serving three seasons as assistant baseball coach at LSU Eunice. His expertise and coaching style helped lead the Bengals to a 151-28 record along with a National Championship in 2012 and a National runner up title in 2013.
Vaz’s offense’s recorded a .321 average over that span while breaking records for walks, stolen bases and hit by pitches.
LSU-E reached 40+ wins for the ninth consecutive season in 2014 while advancing to the Region 23 Tournament. Vaz’s offense recorded its best batting average in his three seasons with the team as the Bengals compiled .333 as a team with 10 student-athletes hitting .300 or better. His best hitter, Stefan Trosclair was named to the 2014 NJCAA All-American first team after completing the season with a .409 average and 32 stolen bases.
During his second year with the LSU-E staff, the Bengals finished as national runner up with a 52-10 record. Vaz’s offense compiled a ¬.311 batting average while stealing a school record 253 base. The Bengals had five position players move on to play at D-1 schools.
In just his first season with LSU-E, the Bengals earned their fourth NJCAA National Championship. The offense was highlighted by six NCAA Division I signees, led by All-American Dalton Herrington and Golden Glove recipient Stuart Turner. The Bengals also set school record for wins with 57 victories.
In 2012, Vaz was hired as the head coach of the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs of the Perfect Game Collegiate League. The Diamond Dawgs set a record for wins in a season (27) and made their 1st trip to the playoffs as Mohawk Valley.
Prior to LSU-E, Vaz served as the head coach for the North Alabama Expos from 2009 to 2011. Before his stint with the Expos, he spent four seasons as an assistant at Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama.
After being drafted by the Oakland A’s in the first year player’s draft in 1997, Vaz played seven years of minor league baseball including winning the Triple-A World Series in 1999 as a member of the Vancouver Canadians. Vaz played in both the Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers Minor League Organizations where he reached Triple-A.
In 1997, while at the University of Alabama, Vaz was named First Team All-American, All-SEC 1st Team and still holds several offensive records at the university. Also in 1997, Vaz was nominated as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top collegiate baseball player. While playing at the University of Alabama, the team finished as runner-up at the College World Series in Omaha, NE.
In 1996, Vaz won a national championship as a member of Northeast Texas Community College team where he was the recipient of the MVP, Big Stick (top hitter) and Sportsmanship Awards. He was the only member of the NTCC baseball team to ever receive all three awards in the same season for the National Junior College Athletic Association. For these efforts he was selected to the Golden Anniversary All-Time World Series Team as one of the greatest JUCO players ever.