New Jersey City University Athletics

 

 

Eric Alvarez may be the hardest working coach in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and his drive and passion to bring championship-caliber baseball to New Jersey City University can be directly seen in the dedication and intensity he brings to recruiting, practice sessions and gameday. Now in his second season as skipper of the Gothic Knights, he was appointed the ninth head baseball coach in NJCU program history in August 2007.

 

Alvarez is determined to turn NJCU into an elite program in the NJAC—widely regarded as the top baseball conference in Division III—and in just a brief period as a collegiate head coach, he has quickly proven to be one of the top young coaches and recruiters in the state.

 

In his first full recruiting year as head coach during the 2008 offseason, he restocked the program with freshmen and junior college transfers from New Jersey, while extending his recruiting reaches as far as Florida and the West Coast, identifying several outstanding prospects from California. His objective is simple—in order for a program to gain national success, recruitment must also be on a national-reaching scale.

 

His eye for talent has helped the Gothic Knights field perhaps the strongest recruiting classes in its program history since he took over as the club’s recruiting coordinator as an assistant coach in 2005.  Among his early collection of talent were pitcher Bald win Vargas, who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox, and shortstop Jose Fulgencio, who posted NJAC records with a 40-game hitting and 50-game on-base streak from 2007-08, before also signing a free agent deal with the White Sox.

 

Prior to becoming head coach, he served as an assistant coach for NJCU for four years (2004-07) and is now in his sixth overall year with the program following a collegiate playing career.

 

Alvarez originally joined the staff of then head coach Ken Heaton in 2004 as the assistant recruiting coordinator and first base coach after having his playing career cut short due to a shoulder injury, and was promoted to head recruiting coordinator/assistant coach in August 2005. Since then he has worked tirelessly to bolster the Gothic Knights lineup.

 

Alvarez played a major role in the success of the 2005 team which advanced to the ECAC Semifinals for the first time in 19 years and only the fourth time in program history, after finishing as the City University of New York Athletic Conference regular season champions, the CUNYAC tournament runners-up, and tying the school record for wins (19-14) in NJCU’s only season as a member of that league. That team had more than 20 freshmen on the roster and started at least seven rookies on any given day after the Knights graduated seven seniors the previous year.

 

In his first season as head coach in 2008, NJCU began to build towards the future. While the team finished 14-26, NJCU’s players reaped several individual rewards for their play. Two players earned All-NJAC honors, highlighted by sophomore Alex Mena being named First-Team All-Conference as a utility player. Additionally, three players were named to the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Division II/III All-State Team and three freshmen earned selection to the NJCBA All-State Rookie Team.

 

Outside of NJCU, Alvarez continues to be actively involved in the sport. In early 2009, he was named head coach of the Ocean Giants of the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League (ABCCL)—a prominent summer league in New Jersey consisting of Division I, II and III three players.

 

Since October 2006, Alvarez has taught as a hitting and fielding instructor at the Jack Cust Baseball Academy in Flemington, NJ, teaching alongside professional baseball player Jack Cust, Jr., of the Oakland A’s. He continues to serve as an instructor at StrikeZone in South Plainfield, NJ.

 

From 2004-05, Alvarez worked as a clinical staff member at the Professional Baseball Instruction school in Upper Saddle River, NJ. His coaching career began as early as 1998 when he was an instructor at the Mott Leeney Summer Baseball Camp in Livingston, NJ.

As a collegiate player, Alvarez began his career at Bergen Community College, where he played two years (2000, 2001), and had the Bulldogs' second highest batting average in 2001 while making only three errors at shortstop. He transferred to Bloomfield College on an athletic scholarship for the 2002 season, before deciding to attend NJCU to pursue a degree in English. He played shortstop and second base for the Knights in 2003, before beginning his coaching career.

 

A May 1999 graduate of Roselle Catholic in Roselle, NJ, Alvarez played four seasons of baseball for head coach Joe Kropa. He earned Honorable Mention All-Mountain Valley Conference honors during his senior season with the Lions, after batting .367 with 17 stolen bases, and helping Roselle Catholic reach the second round of the Union County Tournament. He also represented New Jersey in the Junior Goodwill games, and played a role in his team capturing the tournament championship.

 

Born November 2, 1981 Alvarez, 27, is a native and current resident of Elizabeth, NJ.