Eron Vega shared the Player of the Year honor in the Central Suburban League South division with another baseball player from New Trier in 2024.
But the Evanston senior is in a class by himself for the Orange and Blue.
Vega became the first ETHS player to be a part of four consecutive regional championship teams Saturday, pitching a complete game victory and celebrating his birthday all at the same time in a 5-1 conquest of Loyola Academy at the Class 4A Evanston Regional.
The senior right-hander only allowed 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 10 and lowering his earned run average on the season to right at the 1.00 mark. He improved to 7-1 on the mound.
“At the end of last year I said he was probably our best pitcher, and nothing has changed,” said Evanston head coach Frank Consiglio. “What makes him special is that he’s also our best defender and he’s a high leverage hitter for us, too.”
The Denison University recruit surrendered a run in the second inning, but Evanston countered with a three-run outburst keyed by a two-run double by sophomore Aaron Shalin. The winners stroked nine hits in defeating Loyola for the second time this season.
The Wildkits, now 25-7-1, will face rival New Trier in the Lane Tech Sectional semifinal on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Elk Grove Village and Glenbrook North will meet in the other semi at 4:30 p.m.
Top-seeded New Trier won both regular season meetings with ETHS but struggled Saturday before turning back Niles West 4-3 in its regional title game.
Senior right-hander Braden Grimm will likely start on the mound for the Kits. Grimm, Vega, infielders Charlie Kalil and Noah Cryns and outfielder Owen Vander Velde were all selected to the all-CSL South division team this year in a vote of the coaches.
“We made every single play today. This team has great pitching, and great defense behind it,” Consiglio praised. “You’re always trying to get your team to play above their ability when it comes to playoff time. Some years, you can’t. But we’re playing very confident right now. We think we can beat anyone, and we have the talent to back that up.”