DANNY VLIET CHOOSES UNC ASHEVILLE TO CONTINUE HIS BASEBALL CAREER

All the year round hard work on the baseball diamond has paid off for

Charlotte Catholic left handed pitcher Danny Vliet.  After a successful summer of baseball, Danny has accepted an offer to continue his education and baseball career at The University of North Carolina Asheville.  Danny is a three year letterman in baseball for the Cougars, and a two-time All-Conference Selection.  In 2008, he was named to the Region 6 team for State Games of North Carolina.

UNC Asheville is a Division 1 program that plays in the

Big South Conference, and appeared in their first NCAA Regional in 2006.

Danny put a lot of thought into the decision before finally landing with UNC Asheville. 

“I really liked the campus and the coaches when I visited,” Danny said. “I also liked that they play half their homes games in the stadium where the Tourists minor league team plays in Asheville.  When we toured campus, it is really growing.  They just started building a brand new student recreation center with a new basketball arena.  Next they are going to build stands and a concession stand on the track, which backs up to the baseball field.   Then after both those things are done, they are building a stadium around the baseball field.  I got a chance to spend some time talking to some guys on the team that had also played for On Deck where I play.  After talking with them, I just got a good feeling about how close the team is and all the other athletes with the other teams.”

 Following the popular phrase of, “you never know who is watching or when,” helped Danny catch the attention of the UNC Asheville pitching coach.   He happened to be in the stands for a game early in the summer.  Danny was aware college coaches were scouting him and his teammates. 

“You know the coaches are always there.  The only thing you can do is go out and compete, but you have to be aware people are always watching.  Coach Perry, the pitching coach for Asheville, said he watched me in the dugout and liked that I was relaxed and having fun.  Then when I came in the game he said I pulled my hat down low and flipped a switch on to go pitch.” 

 Amazingly Danny had a slow start to the summer, but rebounded with some very strong outings as the temperature gauge climbed towards 100 in July and August.

“My first tournament this summer I got my tail kicked on the mound.  Then I played pretty well the rest of the summer.  After the first week, I only gave up two runs the rest of the summer.  That first bad game really made me focus the rest of the summer because I knew I had dug a hole in front of a bunch of scouts.”

Danny started the bronze medal game at the State Games and grabbed the victory with a fine outing.  He also turned in a dominating 2 inning, 5 strikeout performance at a showcase game at Coastal Carolina versus the highly ranked Canes South Team and he recorded a save versus one of the top teams in the Southeast, The Dirtbags.  Two days later, UNC Asheville offered the scholarship!

Danny wanted to express his thanks to some very special people that helped him to achieve this opportunity.  
“I want to thank Coach Jason Hill at On Deck for helping me out with the whole recruiting process; he really knows what he’s doing. I also want to thank my parents for taking me to tournaments and driving me across the southeast, and supporting me. Without that I wouldn’t have had a chance to play in front of the scouts and have this opportunity.”

With the decision behind him, Danny will enjoy this fall playing football and then begin to focus on his senior season of baseball.  He hopes to help lead the Catholic Baseball Team to the conference title and state tournament.
The South Charlotte Sports Report congratulates Danny Vliet for earning the opportunity to continue his education and play the game he loves so much in college.