Boom! Boom! Boom! Three reasons why Miami Hurricanes baseball is back among the elite
Alex Toral, Adrian Del Castillo and Raymond Gil were still in high school in 2017 when University of Miami baseball went out with a wimper instead of the roar with which it had become accustomed in a history that included four national tiles in 25 trips to the College World Series.
But all three South Florida teenagers had been coming to Mark Light Field to watch Hurricanes baseball since they were 8 years old, and not even a downtrodden program snapping its extraordinary 44-year NCAA tournament streak — a once proud program with an embarrassing .231 team batting average — could keep the trio from Coral Gables.
“I came here all my life,’’ said sophomore catcher Del Castillo, 20, named a 2019 freshman All-American by Baseball America, D1 Baseball, Collegiate Baseball newspaper, Perfect Game and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. “I’ve always looked up to this program.’’
Now, as the No. 3 Hurricanes prepare to open 2020 against Rutgers at 7 p.m. Friday, the program is looking up to Del Castillo and his hard-hitting buddies — among a roster full of standouts. The three last season combined for 49 home runs and 183 RBI on a team that raised its batting average from .257 to .291, its RBI total from 240 to 413 and home-run total from 23 to an ACC-best 85.
Gino DiMare’s second season
Under second-year head coach Gino DiMare, the Hurricanes begin the season with what appears to be their finest team in years. “Our players are in the right frame of mind,’’ DiMare said. “They believe we have the team to win the national championship. That’s Miami’s goal. It always has been.’’
DiMare acknowledges that his team’s offense is its strength, as well as what should be strong pitching, led by Friday night’s right-handed redshirt-senior Brian Van Belle (10-2, 3.30 in 2019) of Pembroke Pines and first-round prospects Chris McMahon (3-2, 3.73) and Slade Cecconi (5-4, 4.16).
“Obviously it helps that we can drive the ball out of the park,’’ said Toral, 21, a junior first baseman whose 24 home runs last season were third most in the nation and second most by a Hurricane in a single season, tied with Yonder Alonso (2008) and one shy of Phil Lane’s 25 in 1982. “But what makes our offense great is that everyone can do it.’’
“Everyone’’ no longer includes gifted junior shortstop Freddy Zamora, who hit .296 last season with 46 RBI and six home runs. Zamora, who was suspended for the start of the season, will now miss the entire year with a knee injury, UM announced Thursday.
“We are obviously disappointed to learn that Freddy’s injury will force him to miss our season,’’ DiMare said in a released statement. “We are fortunate to have an outstanding medical staff that will take excellent care of Freddy. We wish him well in his recovery.’’
Canes back in NCAA tournament
After ending their national streak and following it in 2018 by again getting shut out of the NCAA tournament with a 28-26 record, the very young Canes, buoyed by the prolific bats of Toral, Del Castillo and Gil among others, raised their record last season to 41-20. Miami returned to the tournament, but lost on the road to then-No. 5 host Mississippi State.
Now the Hurricanes have nearly all their starters back and are ranked in the top 5 in the preseason by multiple outlets and top 10 by them all. Omaha, Nebraska, home of the College World Series, seems attainable for the first time since they last went there in 2016.
So many home runs
“Forty nine home runs,’’ DiMare said of his three leaders. “And 85 total. That’s unbelievable. That was the difference in the team last year. Gil and Del Castillo went to Gulliver [Prep]. Toral went to Archbishop McCarthy. They were all born around the time we were winning championships and grew up here. Winning the championship would be pretty special for those guys.’’
First, the Hurricanes must clean up a sloppy defense that ranked 243rd out of 300 Division I teams (.961 fielding percentage after 88 errors). Third baseman Gil, a junior, hit .318 and had 13 home runs, but struggled with a team-worst .869 fielding percentage after 16 errors.
“We’ve emphasized not to be careless,’’ Gil said. “We have the ability to be a good defense.’’
Hitting coach Norberto Lopez, who also coaches catchers and is UM’s recruiting coordinator, described 6-1, 229-pound Toral, who broke out last season after slumping with only one home run and a .161 batting average in 33 games as a freshman, as “extremely, extremely powerful.’’
“When he keeps himself under control emotionally, he’s one of the better hitters in the country,’’ Lopez said. “Sometimes he lives too much in the result, the outcomes. Hitting is a game of failure. And the more you live in the outcomes the more you’re going to be beating yourself up as opposed to living in the process.’’
Toral is intense
Said Toral, who last season stood more upright in his stance “and had more rhythm’’ in his swing: “I’m an intense guy. I hate to lose and I hate to fail.’’
Lopez said Gil “has contact, has power and a good approach at the plate,’’ but “sometimes he has a little bit of doubt and starts questioning himself. He’s gotten a lot better. Now, a swing-and-miss doesn’t affect him as much as it used to.’’
Del Castillo?
“His ability to stay in the moment is unbelievable,’’ Lopez said. “He is so locked in and engaged in the moment. He’s very calm, under control. A very easy swing.’’
Del Castillo, who was just voted by his teammates and coaches as captain, along with Van Belle, led UM with a .331 average, with 12 home runs and 72 RBI — 13th most in the country.
“I’m super excited that it’s finally here,’’ Del Castillo said of the opener. “I think we’re going to do really well.’’
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 4:53 PM.
