The Wawruck Academy Scholarship

One of the school’s best two-sport athletes in the modern era, Jim Wawruck excelled on the soccer side of Centennial Field in the fall, and in the spring, he starred next door in center field on the baseball diamond. A 2003 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, he made his mark at UVM in just three seasons before embarking on a professional baseball career.

In just three baseball seasons at UVM, he became UVM’s all-time leader in batting average and runs scored, was fifth in hits, and was third in triples and stolen bases. In three years on the soccer team, he was ninth all-time in goals with 15 and tied for ninth all-time with 37 career points. Explosive and athletic, he was a key player on two UVM soccer teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament.

On the diamond, he was twice a first-team, all-conference selection and remains the school’s career leader with a .366 batting average. In June 1991, he was a fifth-round selection in Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, the second-highest Catamount draftee following UVM Athletic Hall of Famer Kirk McCaskill (4th round by California in 1981).

In soccer, Wawruck came to UVM after earning high-school All-American honors at Loomis-Chaffee. His freshman year, 1988, he scored four goals and had two assists as the Catamounts went 10-6-3. The next season he was an integral part of the finest men’s soccer team in school history. UVM’s third-leading scorer with seven goals and three assists, he complimented Mike Mason upfront as the team won the conference title and advanced to the NCAA East Regional Finals. He scored four goals, including one game-winner, and had two assists in 1990 as Vermont repeated as NAC champions and again advanced to the NCAA tournament.

One of the best defensive center fielders to play at UVM, he made an immediate impact for Coach Bill Currier as a freshman hitting .327, second on the team behind Rob Diestal. The next season he teamed up with Kevin Cashman to provide one of the most potent 1-2 offensive punches in UVM history as he hit .419, just behind Cashman’s remarkable .451. His average that season was 21st in the NCAA and at the time was third-best in a season at Vermont. He set then-school records with 49 hits and 46 runs scored while tying Cashman with a school-record 92 total bases. He was named as a first team, all-ECAC-North Atlantic outfielder as UVM went 18-13.

He had another solid season in 1991 hitting .344 and leading the team, and the conference, with 17 steals to repeat as a first team All-NAC outfielder.

Following the season in which UVM went 18-14, Wawruck was drafted by the Orioles and signed a pro contract. He spent seven successful seasons in the Baltimore system including three seasons, 1994 to 1997, at Triple-A Rochester in the International League. In 1994 and 1995, Wawruck was on the 40-man major-league roster.

Back living in his native Connecticut with his wife, Marnie, and their family, Wawruck is a middle school teacher and is the owner of the Wawruck Baseball Academy.