Durango has its first Division I baseball signee in more than a decade.
Zac Gasaway, a senior at Durango High School, signed a National Letter of Intent last Thursday to play baseball at the University of San Francisco in California.
“(Gasaway) is a wonderful student with great work habits and athleticism,” San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano said in an email to The Durango Herald. “He is a great fit for USF and will be a great contributor to our program. We are very happy for the family and look forward to a great four years.”
Gasaway will play in the outfield for The Dons, who finished 25-29 last season and only are two years removed from an NCAA Tournament regional appearance. They’ve reached the postseason two of the last four seasons.
San Francisco is in the West Coast Conference with teams such as Brigham Young, Gonzaga and Pepperdine.
Gasaway said he first started talking to San Francisco in early August after they saw him play in a summer tournament in Los Angeles.
“I played a lot of baseball over the summer and had a pretty big schedule this year,” said Gasaway, who spent his summer playing for Blue Chip Baseball and the Colorado Instructional League in Denver. “I didn’t think much of (San Francisco) at the beginning, but, after that, I started researching the school and went for a visit and fell in love.”
Gasaway also has spent the last year working on his hitting with Sean Nicol, a former minor leaguer in the Washington Nationals organization. Nicol now serves as an instructor at the Stillwater Foundation’s “The Turf.”
“Zac is a guy in there every day at least an hour every single day doing hitting, throwing, fielding. He’s worked really hard to get a school like San Francisco to notice the hard work he’s put in,” said Nicol, who played collegiality at San Diego in the same conference at The Dons. “I’ve been in the same position he’s in. He has more power in his bat than I had, I can tell ya that. But, as far as hard work, he’s got what it takes to eventually crack a D-1 lineup.”
Gasaway, son of Tony and Terri Gasaway, hit .327 in 20 games for the Demons in his junior season. He had nine runs batted in and four doubles as part of 17 hits in 52 plate appearances.
“It’s awesome for Zac. He’s a good kid, really loves the game, and he’s a heck of a hitter,” former DHS head coach Rob Coddington said. “What a great school for a kid like that to go to. It’s been awhile since Durango’s had a Division-I guy. I think Nick McCoola in 2001 to Wichita State was the last one.”
Gasaway’s day begins before 6 a.m. He starts lifting weights before heading off to school, where he’s also a standout student. He hopes to become a surgeon some day, inspired by DHS biology teacher Ty Flom, who has advised Gasaway and attended the signing ceremony.
Gasaway also works on his agility and speed with Dalon Parker, the DHS head soccer and assistant basketball coach.
With all of the work he’s put in, Gasaway said it is a relief to know where he will spend his college days.
Now his goals are focused on helping DHS to another winning baseball season and helping younger kids realize the same dream he achieved when he signed his NLI.
“I want to get all of my school work done and also help with younger kids and get them prepared for high school and get them prepared so they can do the same thing,” Gasaway said. “I definitely believe in giving back to the community, and I want there to be 10 times more kids signing just like this in coming years.”
Nicol acknowledged how hard it is for a player in the Four Corners to get noticed and commended Gasaway for doing what it takes to gain attention from college coaches.
“He committed himself. It’s hard to get much exposure when you aren’t in a bigger city,” Nicol said. “He produced at tournaments and got San Francisco to see him and be interested and commit to him. It’s a huge accomplishment for this area.”
A native of St. Louis, Gasaway is excited to get back to a big city, even if it is the hometown of the San Francisco Giants, the World Series champions who beat his beloved Cardinals in the National League Championship Series this year.
“I’m a city boy at heart. St. Louis was my home for eight years, and I’m excited to get back to a city with a major league team, because I’m a huge baseball fan,” Gasaway said.
Gasaway credited all of his coaches and teachers who have helped him along the way, and he hopes to continue to make them all proud at the next level.
“It’s definitely a big moment. One-of-a-kind feeling,” Gasaway said after signing. “I have to recognize everybody else that helped me and all my teams. Baseball is a team sport, and you can’t play it by yourself. Everybody on my (summer) team are having these opportunities. It’s definitely a group effort.”
jliviingston@durangoherald.com
