How freshman Alonzo Alvarez has emerged late in the season for the Miami Hurricanes
Alonzo Alvarez has showcased glimpses of his talents throughout his freshman season with the Miami Hurricanes.
But the switch-hitting catcher has taken his game to another level over the past month since taking over full-time behind the plate for Miami.
His all-around efforts were on full display in Miami’s 10-5 win over Troy to begin play in the NCAA tournament on Friday night to advance to the winner’s bracket of the Gainesville Regional, hosted by the No. 8 national seed Florida Gators.
Alvarez had a team-high three hits for the Hurricanes, who are the No. 2 seed in the regional and had to wait out a four-hour-and-15-minute weather delay before playing their opening game. This included an RBI single with the bases loaded in a pivotal five-run bottom of the eighth inning that turned a 5-5 game into a 10-5 Miami lead.
Defensively, Alvarez caught a Troy runner stealing and picked off another runner. The caught stealing ended the sixth inning. The pickoff came after back-to-back walks to start the eighth inning and limited the damage in the top half of the frame. Troy’s Drew Nelson hit a game-tying two-run home run shortly after the pickoff. It would have been a three-run home run that would have given Troy the lead if not for Alvarez’s throw.
“Just ready to play tomorrow,” Alvarez said after the win over Troy in a game started at 10:15 p.m. Friday and ended at nearly 2 a.m. Saturday after originally being scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch. “First taste of playoff baseball, that was a blast.”
Alvarez took over Miami’s full-time catcher duties on May 1 while usual starting catcher Alex Sosa has dealt with a lingering shoulder injury. Sosa moved to designated hitter at first during his recovery but has played first base since May 9 while Alvarez took over behind the plate.
Alvarez, who caught on midweeks and got steady reps at designated hitter before taking over full-time for Sosa, has done his part to ensure he stays in the lineup.
Entering Saturday’s game against Florida, which was pushed back to an 8 p.m. scheduled start on Saturday, Alvarez is hitting .391 (18 for 46) with three doubles, three home runs, nine RBI and 11 runs scored. He has multiple hits in six of 13 games since becoming the Hurricanes’ full-time catcher and has at least three hits in three of UM’s past four games.
Defensively, Alvarez has caught 12 of 21 players who have attempted to steal bases against him and has just one passed ball.
Alvarez, who is hitting .333 overall on the season with 13 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 30 RBI and 38 runs scored, credited Sosa and Hurricanes first-year director of program development Jarrod Saltalamacchia (a 12-year MLB veteran) for making sure he was ready for the moment.
“It’s good of being able to kind of get in the routine of catching more than just one game it helps,” Alvarez said. “But Salty does a great job of preparing us and I have learned a lot from Sosa, so I’m kind of still trying to pick their mind and every game I can learn something new. It’s been good.”
“[Sosa] kind of took me in as a younger brother and he’s been nothing but helpful, whether it’s the offensive side or the defensive side,” Alvarez added. “Even having Jackson Hugus and just picking their minds because they have so much experience back there and I didn’t grow up catching. So it’s great to learn more of the game aspect than just kind of your technique.”
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