Texas A&M baseball coaches went to Crosby last Thursday to take a look at Fulshear junior left-hander Austin Vargas.
Vargas, initially a University of Houston commit, certainly fits the part of premier prospect physically. He stands 6-foot-7, 200 pounds. He is long and lean. Self-assured. But after he allowed no runs on two hits while striking out nine and walking seven in five innings to lead Fulshear to an area playoff Game 2 win over Crosby, Vargas showed the Aggies he had the raw talent as well.
A&M invited Vargas for a visit and officially offered him. It didn’t take long for Vargas to reciprocate the interest. Two days after that initial A&M evaluation, Vargas committed to the Aggies.
“After many coaching changes and many talks with my family, I decided to decommit (from UH),” Vargas said. “Texas A&M presented me with the opportunity to play against the best teams in the nation and use the best technology to stay healthy and perform at my best. I love the culture Coach (Jim) Schloss (Schlossnagle) is building and his history with going to Omaha (site of the College World Series).”
Vargas had a breakthrough 2022 campaign. He finished 7-2 with a 1.99 ERA over 52 innings and a 3.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (113 to 37) and helped lead the 20-11-1 Chargers to the area playoffs. He threw a perfect game against Terry in late April, striking out 17 Rangers on only 83 pitches in six innings.
Opponents barely hit better than .100 against Vargas, who tops out at 92 miles per hour on his fastball and sits around 89-91 mph. He has a devastating slider to accompany his fastball, and his curveball hovers around 78 mph.
“This year, I was most pleased to perform under pressure,” said Vargas, who went 2-0 in the postseason with 17 strikeouts and did not surrender a run on two hits in eight innings. “I’ve been in a lot of situations this year that aren’t easy to deal with and found a way to get out of it with no damage. The main thing I want to improve in my game is the ability to throw my off-speed for strikes whenever I want to.”
Vargas will next play for his summer team and attend showcases. He plans to spend a lot of time at Performance Edge, where he trains, to get bigger and stronger.
“To dominate my senior year,” he said.
Vargas has big goals.
“I’m focused on getting Fulshear a state championship,” he said, “and getting to Texas A&M to help win a national championship.”