(McPherson, KS) Exira-EHK grad Alex Amaral will be entering his second season with the McPherson College baseball team this year. The Bulldogs went 40-14 last season and made the NAIA National Tournament.
Amaral previously played for Southwestern Community College and a connection between the two coaching staffs helped land him on the McPherson roster. He appeared in 10 games and struck out 20 batters in 17 2/3 innings. “I started our first series and then the coaches were giving other guys opportunities. I came in in relief a few times. I think I had four starts on the year and the rest were relief appearances. It was a good experience to have had both sides of the spectrum.”
This summer Amaral is playing for the Clarinda A’s in the MINK League. “I have a buddy and the head coach for Clarinda is his high school coach. They were looking for pitchers and I was lucky enough to be able to play for them.”
His main goal is go improve his fastball. “For me the number one thing is to get my velo up. I’ve been really inconsistent recently. My last year of JUCO I was throwing a lot harder than I was last year which made things tougher. Other than that I’ve always had a pretty good curveball, I’m working on a slider, and my changeup is working pretty well. So if I can hone in on some of those details I think I’ll be set.” He’s hoping to reach the 90’s on the radar gun.
Exira-EHK grad Alex Amaral:
