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07/20/2017 12:00 AMJoel Alvarado put together an excellent season in the East Haven Little League baseball ranks this spring. Joel, 10, was dominant on the hill, and he also batted .450 to earn a spot on the town’s All-Star Team.
“It meant a lot and made me feel like I was really good,” says Joel of being an All-Star. “I enjoyed it a lot. I had a lot of fun and liked the competition.”
Some of Joel’s greatest accomplishments came on the pitcher’s mound during the recent campaign. In 21.2 innings pitched, he allowed just four hits and struck out a whopping total of 58 hitters.
“I like pitching. It’s probably one of my favorite positions in baseball. I’ve been practicing a lot and think I’m really good at it,” Joel says. “When I started, I don’t think I was the best, but since I’ve kept practicing, I became a lot better.”
Joel has put in a lot of practice time with his stepfather Rob Demars, who coaches him in baseball, basketball, and football. Demars has been instrumental in helping Joel pitch well at a young age.
“He’s husky and has a powerful arm. It was more important to get his accuracy down before his speed, so I figured he has to start changing it up, so I tried to get him to throw a changeup,” says Demars. “He’s his own worst critic. He puts himself in a rut when somebody gets a hit, so he’s very tough on himself. I practice with him a lot and helped him this year with pitching and batting at the cages a day or two a week whenever I had the chance after work.”
Joel believes the addition of a changeup allows him to keep opposing batters off-balance. When he pitched for the All-Star squad, Joel gave up one hit and fanned six in his two outings.
“I throw a lot of changeups and, since people are used to me pitching fast, I trick them sometimes,” he says. “I usually throw two fastballs and then I like to change speeds.”
When Joel isn’t on the mound, he plays first base and catcher. He pounded out two home runs, one triple, and four doubles on his way to hitting .450 this year. As a member of the All-Star Team, he batted .750.
“When I get up to the plate, I’m kind of nervous, but I step up, and I try my hardest to get on base,” says Joel, who’s an offensive lineman in football. “This season, I was just seeing the ball very well.”
Two of Joel’s biggest moments this year came when he slugged his two home runs. One cleared the fence at 191 feet and the other traveled 210 feet. He was only player in East Haven Little League to hit a homer this season.
“I remember the pitches were a little bit outside, but that’s where I like to hit. I pulled them both out to left field,” says Joel. “My grandfather always used to tell me to use a certain bat, and that’s the one that I hit the home runs with.”
As Joel looks to continue developing on the diamond, he knows that he will have to keep working hard in order to become the player he wants to be down the road.
“My coach has given me a couple of things I have to work on,” says Joel. “I like to practice baseball, because I think I’m good at it. I want to be better.”