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After four seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting
coordinator for the
New Jersey
City University baseball team, Eric Alvarez has been appointed the ninth
head baseball coach in NJCU program history, Interim Director of Athletics
Alice De Fazio has announced. He succeeds Ken Heaton, who in 18 years as
NJCU head coach, won a program-record 255 games.
“First I would like to thank Ken Heaton and Alice De Fazio for this
wonderful opportunity and their support,” Alvarez said. “I realize that I
am about to embark on what will hopefully be the beginning of a long
career, and I am excited to continue what Coach Heaton and I have been
doing for the past three years. I believe that I have yet again brought in
some quality recruits that will add to the arsenal of players returning
this year. I am going to do my best to turn this program into one of the
elite in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and a national contender.”
Alvarez originally joined Ken Heaton’s coaching staff for the 2005 season
as the assistant recruiting coordinator and first base coach, and was
promoted to head recruiting coordinator/assistant coach in August 2005.
Since then he has worked tirelessly to bolster the Gothic Knights lineup.
He also served as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2004 campaign
after having his playing career cut short due to a shoulder injury.
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 the 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.
Heaton, the former head coach, said of Alvarez: “Eric brings a tireless
work ethic to the program, on and off the field. He is relentless in his
pursuit to bring quality athletes into our program.”
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 Athletics.
From 2005-06, Alvarez served as a clinical staff member at the
Professional Baseball Instruction school in
Upper Saddle River, 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.
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