{"id":13047,"date":"2025-10-30T09:40:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T14:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13047"},"modified":"2025-10-30T09:40:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T14:40:48","slug":"varsho-becomes-first-uwm-alum-to-make-it-to-the-world-series","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/varsho-becomes-first-uwm-alum-to-make-it-to-the-world-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Varsho becomes first UWM alum to make it to the World Series"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/a>
Daulton Varsho played for three seasons at UWM before being drafted in 2017 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played three years for Arizona before being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays before the 2023 season. (Milwaukee Athletics photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the\u00a0first time in 32 years<\/a>, the Toronto Blue Jays are going to the World Series. And a UWM alum, Daulton Varsho, played an important part in making that happen.<\/p>\n

Varsho collected two hits Monday in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, including\u00a0a single to drive in Toronto\u2019s first run<\/a>\u00a0in the first inning to tie the game. Varsho recorded five hits in the series against the Seattle Mariners, and he also played his usual stellar defense in center field.<\/p>\n

When Toronto takes on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series starting Friday, Varsho will become the first UWM alum to appear in baseball\u2019s ultimate event. Varsho\u00a0was already a trailblazer<\/a>, the first UWM alum to make it to the major leagues\u00a0when he debuted as a catcher<\/a>\u00a0for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is awesome. I mean, we do it for these people,\u201d\u00a0Varsho said after Monday\u2019s game<\/a>, motioning to the Toronto crowd, calling the fans \u201cthe reason we play the game. They\u2019re here every day, supporting us, it\u2019s just awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach happy for his former player<\/h3>\n

Varsho\u2019s head coach at UWM, Scott Doffek, is thrilled to see his player\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou love to see when hard work and determination is rewarded. He\u2019s been on the big stage for a while now and has accomplished a lot since he left UWM, but now the entire world gets to see what he\u2019s been working towards,\u201d said Doffek, who retired as UWM coach in 2023. \u201cI am so proud of him and happy for him \u2013 we all are! He deserves this spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Varsho was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2017 after his junior year at UWM. Arizona traded him to Toronto before the 2023 season. A gifted athlete, Varsho shifted to center field in the major leagues,\u00a0winning a Gold Glove award<\/a>\u00a0there in 2024.<\/p>\n

Varsho\u2019s father, Gary Varsho, played eight seasons of major league baseball. He just missed making it to the World Series twice when his Pittsburgh Pirates team fell one game short in both 1991 and 1992.<\/p>\n

Dad cried<\/h3>\n

Daulton Varsho noted that his father\u2019s heartbreak has turned to joy with his son\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, he cried. He cried that I\u2019m able to get to this point,\u201d\u00a0Varsho said to Canadian sports broadcaster Sportsnet<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things where he was on that side, and it stinks. He was up 3-2 and he knows what it feels like, so obviously being able to pull it out for us, it\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Varsho battled injuries much of this season, but he was a stalwart in the middle of the Blue Jays lineup for 71 games. He\u00a0hit 20 home runs and posted an OPS of .833<\/a>, well above league average. He had a monster Game 2 in the American League Division Series, driving in four runs with two homers and two doubles in a 13-7 victory of the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n

Varsho grew up in the tiny unincorporated hamlet of Chili, Wisconsin, which is about 10 miles west of Marshfield in the central part of the state.<\/p>\n

UWM, the only Division I baseball program in Wisconsin,\u00a0has had 26 players drafted<\/a>\u00a0by major league teams, including three in three years from 2022 to 2024. A.J. Blubaugh became the second UWM player to make it to the majors when the\u00a0Houston Astros called him up<\/a>\u00a0earlier this season.<\/p>\n

\n

Written by John Schumacher<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/varsho-becomes-first-uwm-alum-to-make-it-to-the-world-series\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the\u00a0first time in 32 years, the Toronto Blue Jays are going to the World Series. And a UWM alum, Daulton Varsho, played an important part in making that happen. Varsho collected two hits Monday in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, including\u00a0a single to drive in Toronto\u2019s first run\u00a0in the first inning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[107],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-13047","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-milwaukee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13047"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}