Profile: Huron’s Alex Cole ready to take his swings at the next level
While Alexander Cole and his Huron teammates never got a chance to step in the batter’s box this past spring, the senior will get the opportunity to continue playing the game he loves.
“I am attending Northwood University to play baseball,” said Cole, who pitched and played first base and the outfield for the River Rats during his prep career. “I plan to study sports management. I chose Northwood not only because they have a very good baseball program, but the degree I am pursuing should set me up for the rest of my life.”
Cole said his dad first pitched him the idea of playing baseball.
“I started playing t-ball when I was about 4 and chose to stick with it,” he says. “I enjoy the grind of baseball. In most sports you don’t see a success rate of 3/10 make you a hall of famer. So the grind of failing and failing again just to succeed 3/10 times is what I love so much. The sport is not for everyone and that’s what makes the people who play and excel in the game special.”
And Cole was a special player on a solid program. He was a starter throughout his career at Huron.
“My freshman year was a struggle at first because it was my first time playing against kids older than me, but it helped me my next two years tremendously,” he says.
It certainly did. Cole was All-Conference Honorable Mention as a sophomore and All-Conference and All-District as a junior. He made plenty of big plays and created even more lasting memories.
“My favorite team memory came sophomore year when we went 4-0 against Pioneer on the year beating them in the first game of Districts,” he says. “My favorite personal memory was the series against Monroe last year as a junior when I went 6 for 10 with a home run and multiple doubles.
“The thing I will miss most about Huron baseball is playing with my friends and classmates and getting to represent the school.”
Cole admits it was difficult dealing with not getting a chance to represent his school his senior year. The River Rats were loaded and ready to make a run in 2020.
“We were going to be a very solid team that was going to compete with any team around,” he says. “We had 12 seniors with a few talented underclassmen. We had our eyes set on a District championship and hopefully to make a run in the state tournament.”
Alex, the son of Lauren and Jason Cole, also hit a home run in the classroom with a 3.74 GPA.
Cole has been dealing with the pandemic the best he can.
“I think what is going on now in the world will be remembered for years to come,” he says. “There’s not much we can do about it except listen to what the experts say and hope everything gets back to normal soon.
“I missed school and getting to see all my friends and interacting with different people every day. I am pretty lucky because my dad was able to create a weight room in our garage so nothing has really changed in the working out aspect.”
Hopefully, it will all work out for Cole.