The Hofstra University baseball team entered this season hoping to alleviate their minds of 2023 and start fresh in 2024. Big pitching changes were made throughout the offseason, but the lineup has mostly stayed the same. However, when you look at the team, one player stands out from the rest in every way imaginable.
Standing at 6 foot, 6 inches and 260 pounds, Alex McCoy is the power hitter Hofstra never knew they needed. Now that he’s here, the impact he’s had on this team is memorable to say the least.
McCoy came in as one of the big offseason acquisitions for the Pride and he made his presence known before the season even started. In a fall league scrimmage in October, during his first game and second at-bat in a Hofstra uniform, McCoy clobbered a home run over the tall left-field wall at University Field.
McCoy walked out onto the diamond ready to play, and head coach Frank Catalanotto knew what kind of player he had and how he was going to use him.
“He’s a dynamic player,” Catalanotto said. “He’s got incredible speed and he’s got great power.”
McCoy played last season with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore as a junior. He provided a stable bat for the Hawks, starting in 52 games at third and first base. From the batter’s box, McCoy slugged a .253 average with 24 RBIs, seven doubles and three home runs in his tenure. His time in the Northeast Conference (NEC) was short-lived as McCoy wanted a different challenge.
“Coming from a lower D1 school to a higher one is a big change, going from Maryland to New York,” McCoy said. “The coaches here are great. They take time with us and make sure we’re prepared for every game … I can learn from around me to try and develop my game and make me a better player. Overall, it was a great decision to come to this school.”
As he entered the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), McCoy understood that this D1 team would be different, and he couldn’t wait for Catalanotto to work with him throughout the season.
“For a month and a half, I felt that I really couldn’t hit a baseball,” McCoy said. “But I stuck with their process, and after a while, I’m hitting balls over the fence and into the gap. I put my career into their hands, and they’re building me up into a great player.”
With an already-stacked lineup, all the Pride needed was to plug McCoy in the clean-up spot, demonstrating that one person can change the trajectory of the team.
McCoy has excelled during the 2024 season, batting fourth in the lineup for the Pride. He plays mostly in the designated hitter position but sometimes manages the outfield over in center. He has slugged .339 in 38 games played so far this season. In 155 at-bats, McCoy has compiled 47 hits, 10 doubles, 33 RBIs and nine home runs. Even with his recent success, McCoy still feels the pressure of being so high in the lineup.
“I do a little bit,” McCoy said. “In baseball, the more pressure you put on yourself, the harder you make it, so I try to go out there and put the bat on the ball. So, the pressure is there, but if I stay true to my game the way they teach me, everything will play out the way it is supposed to be.”
Even with his recent success at Hofstra, there are some areas McCoy is still working on.
In a recent game against the St John’s University Red Storm, in a bases-loaded situation, McCoy struck out on three straight breaking balls to end the inning and a chance to take the lead. After the game, Catalanotto expressed how there are holes in the game that McCoy is still grasping to learn.
“For McCoy, he’s a work in progress,” Catalanotto said. “He’s going to be a good player, but he’s learning the game a lot … [He] told me he hasn’t been taught the game the way he’s being taught right now, so I expect him to be a professional player when the year is over, and I think he’s going to improve the mental part of the game.”
As a player, McCoy also understands that there are always different parts of the game that need to be studied. But when aspects of the game are learned all on the campus of Hofstra, it makes those learning experiences a little tougher. In the long run, those little moments between Catalanotto and his teammates will push McCoy to bigger and better heights.
Off the playing field, McCoy relayed how he jelled with his new teammates since the end of last year and how he has loved the connections he’s made thus far.
“We’re all together all the time,” McCoy said. “There’s never a time where I can’t go to the cafe, and I’ll see six dudes together. We’re all together all the time, so there’s never a doubt when baseball is around.”
One player McCoy feels the closest with since his departure from the NEC into the CAA is catcher Mike Dorcean. McCoy and Dorcean played in the same conference last season and that connection helped him ease into new life in Hempstead.
“There’s always that guy that you’re always seen with,” McCoy said. “And that’s Mike Dorcean. We played in the same conference last year. I never knew who he was, and I heard he committed here … We kind of just became close, so that’s my guy. We have class together and we talk most often.”
As the season has passed the midpoint, the Pride currently holds an 14-25 record while trailing behind CAA opponents at 5-10. As Hofstra tries to maintain a grip in the conference, McCoy will aim to be one of the many players to try to win the CAA title with his newfound home in Hempstead.
“I feel like this team is a very tight-knit team,” Catalanotto said. “More so than last year or the year before. They all like being together, and they’ve got each other’s backs. It doesn’t seem like there are any cliques. They’re all on the same page and they’re always hanging out, so it does feel a little bit different. It’s a team that cares for each other.”
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Rob Cuni
