Orlando Vazquez, a Chicago White Sox fan who loves Yadier Molina, carves out St. Laurence role. ‘A glue guy.'

Orlando Vazquez has figured out the best way for him to play a big role for St. Laurence. It's by doing the small things.

Vazquez knows he's not the most powerful hitter in the lineup for the Vikings, but the senior outfielder takes pride in helping his team manufacture runs in any way possible.

"I focused on doing the little things, Vazquez said. "I've gotten a lot of bunts down this year. I have embraced that role and I'm trying to do the best at it. I feel like that's one of the things that gets me in the lineup and I'm going to stick with doing that.

"Before St. Laurence, I never really bunted at all. St. Laurence has taught me to bunt and I've worked on it a ton."

There was nothing small, though, about Vazquez's performance Saturday night.

He ripped a pair of two-out, two-run singles to finish with four RBIs and lead St. Laurence to its second straight Do It Stevie's Way Tournament championship with a 10-3 win over Sandburg at Ozinga Field in Crestwood.

Oakton commit Sean Popp went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Vikings (32-2), while Louisville recruit Cory Les doubled and scored three runs. Wisconsin-Parkside commit Danny Donovan produced two runs and an RBI.

But it was Vazquez who was the most clutch on Saturday's big stage.

"Orlando's been coming through all year," St. Laurence coach Pete Lotus said. "He came up in big situations and he had two two-out, two-RBI hits. That's just huge.

"He's such a great kid, too. He always has a smile on his face. You never see him down."

TCU recruit Jimmy Benson struck out five over six innings, allowing just one earned run, to earn the win for St. Laurence.

Quinn Durkin went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Sandburg (19-12), while Wisconsin-Parkside recruit Dominic Diamond chipped in with a run, a single and a sacrifice fly.

Vazquez, meanwhile, capped a four-run first inning for the Vikings with his first two-run single. Then he finished off the scoring with another two-run base hit in the sixth.

"Orlando is a glue guy for us," Les said. "He's always there for us. He does all the things that you don't really think about. He bunts guys over, puts the ball in play to get runners over, takes pitches to drive pitch counts up.

"When he comes through with big hits, he's just showing us he's the player we know we have."

Les was St. Laurence's recipient of the Do It Stevie's Way Award, given to players who "play the right way" in honor of Steven Bajenski, the former Mount Carmel player who died at age 17 in 2009 due to complications from heart surgery.

"Hearing about Stevie, there's something about the way he played that really inspired me," Les said. "It's how I want to play. It's how I was raised to play. It's being tough and hard-nosed.

"It's not always about being the best but always going out and doing the right thing and playing the right way. Winning this, I'm really proud."

Vazquez is definitely doing things the right way, too. And he's trusting himself.

"I just felt like I had to have a better mentality this year," Vazquez said. "I had to believe in myself and know that the guys around me are going to support me and what I do."

Growing up, Vazquez idolized former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

"I used to be a catcher so I really loved watching him play," Vazquez said. "I love watching the (World Baseball Classic) and it was so fun watching him in that. He's amazing.

"I'm a White Sox fan so I don't really like the Cardinals, but he's just an inspiration to me."

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