West Boca Hires Willie Vizoso, Former Olympic Heights Baseball Head Coach

Moving on from rival Olympic Heights, but staying in Boca Raton, West Boca High School has hired Willie Vizoso to join Jerry Albert’s baseball coaching staff.

Vizoso, who will be West Boca’s new pitching coach, is excited to join the West Boca family.

“To me, this is such a well run school academically and athletically,” Vizoso said. “It starts at the top with our Principal Mr. Capitano and our Athletic Director Coach Albert. In the short time I have been here, I’ve noticed that everything is run first class with an expectation of greatness and nothing accepted other than that. Leadership is key to success and we certainly have that. When Coach Albert came to West Boca, I knew he was going to turn them around and turn this school into something special from my days of knowing him in Miami. The talent is there and the image of portraying success is there. I think right now we are headed in the right direction of getting this school over the top in every sport. The community and people around the county are noticing. The success is already present and there are excellent things coming. I’m incredibly lucky to be a part of the rise to the top for West Boca.”

The decision to hire Coach Vizoso was an easy one for Coach Albert, who stated that “Willie is a great addition to our staff. I’ve known him for the past 10 or 11 years. And I know him to be a quality person which is first and foremost the most important thing when we bring in people to work with our players. He has a very good knowledge of the game. He is very experienced for a young man. He has been around the game in numerous facets. He has already shown himself to be a very hard-working, dedicated, and loyal person in the short amount of time he’s been here.”

As head coach for Olympic Heights last season, the Lions went 6-12-1 where they lost to Coral Springs in the first round of the playoffs. But in 2022, Vizoso led Olympic Heights to a 12-9 season with an appearance in the district championship where they ultimately lost to Dwyer, finishing as runner-ups.

Vizoso will be joining a strong Bulls team that went 17-9 last season. Unlike Olympic Heights in 2022, West Boca was able to beat Dwyer in 2023 to capture their second-straight district championship.

Seniors James Litman (FAU commit/pitcher), Tyler Lichtenburger (Appalachian State commit/shortstop), and Matthew Pagan (Santa Fe commit/first baseman/closer) all return and are expected to be better than ever. Senior infielders Alan Hernandez and Chicho Goldstein are both uncommitted, but will make a massive impact as well.

West Boca is going to have even more depth with the additions of outfielder Parks Fucci and pitcher Nick Manning.

Fucci, who is committed to play baseball at Palm Beach State, is a gold glove caliber center fielder with major speed. The senior led all of Palm Beach County with 36 stolen bases last year.

Manning, meanwhile, is one of the best pitchers in Palm Beach County. The 6-6 junior will form a formidable 1-2 punch alongside Litman. While he is uncommitted, Manning has been a part of both the Dodgers and Brewers scout team.

The Bulls will surely rely on Manning, who is expected to replace Corey Kling, who graduated after last season. Kling was West Boca’s star pitcher, and is now at USF to play college ball. In 10 games last season, Kling was 3-0 with a 0.85 ERA and 72 strikeouts.

Outfielders Pier Figueroa (Palm Beach State commit) and Prince Ferguson (Florida Memorial commit) also graduated, as well as infielder Tyler Cordero and pitcher Chris Owens (Northwest Florida State College commit).

For the past few seasons, West Boca has had a trend of falling just short of states in the FHSAA playoffs. Vizoso wants to help the Bulls get over that hump. Fall ball has already begun so he has been able to check out West Boca’s roster for the upcoming season.

“This year’s West Boca baseball team is incredibly special,” Vizoso said. “I am going into my ninth year of coaching high school baseball and this might be the most talented team I’ve ever been around. As in every sport, it just takes everybody to buy and the talent will take over when everything falls into place. We are a well-balanced team that is very prepared to win. The pitching is there, the hitting is there. The baseball IQ is off the charts. It just comes down to us putting it together when it truly counts come February. The target is on our back and I have no doubt this year’s Bulls baseball team will rise to the occasion. I expect this ball club to be competing for a state championship in Fort Myers come late May.”

Vizoso will also be teaching West Boca’s newest class, sports management, where students will learn the business end of sports.

“We are covering everything from the marketing of sports, to the importance of logos and branding, to what goes on in gameday operations for high school sports. Every day coming to work to teach this class is fun. There are true interactions with the students and they are excited to learn this wonderful industry. This is only the beginning for this course and we have great expectations that it will grow rapidly into a class everyone wants to be a part of.”

If you walk into Vizoso’s classroom, one could tell very easily that he is a massive sports fan, but especially a Miami Hurricanes fan.

“I am a massive sports fan. It’s something that has been my passion since I was a child. I am a die hard Miami Hurricanes fan. I grew up at the University and grew to love THE U at a young age. My family has been season ticket holders before I was born for baseball and football. I was there for the glory years and I have been there through the rough years – we don’t talk about that. I’ve been truly blessed to have met some amazing people in my years as a Canes fan around Coral Gables from hall of fame baseball coach Jim Morris, to national champion QB Ken Dorsey, to having a friendship with the voice of the Hurricanes, Jay Rokeach. I told my students the first week of class that passion and love for something is found through experiences and idolizing someone. I think it’s incredibly vital for young kids to look up to someone for mentorship and striving for success like that athlete or person. In my case, my baseball hero growing up was Mark McGwire. I always wanted to be like Big Mac and the 1998 home run chase was the definition of my sports childhood. I’ve made sure my students have learned the impact that certain athletes have on so many lives.”

Vizoso will surely make an impact. We can promise you another thing: West Boca is a district contender yet again as they aim for their third-straight district championship. As always, the Bulls also eye an appearance in the state championship. Will this be the year?