After the last year, there should never be a doubt about how mentally and physically tough Ty Alderman is.
Alderman, playing his sophomore year at East Central Community College, broke his hand late in the season but continued to play.
“I thought he had a really good year for us,” ECCC baseball coach Neal Holliman said. “He was a vital part for what we were trying to do. He’s a very strong individual. He’s strong in the weight room and strong on the field. He’s what you call country strong. He became a really good hitter for us and played the last three weeks with a broken hand. He was limited in some of things he could do but he played through it. I told him as long as he wasn’t hurting us, he could play.”
Despite the broken hand, Alderman finished fourth on the team with a .357 batting average and had six home runs and 34 RBIs in 141 plate appearances. He only struck out seven times on the year.
“I thought I had a really good year,” Alderman said. “We were blessed in several areas. We worked really hard but came up short. It was tough when I broke my hand with about 12-13 games left in the season. I decided that the best thing to do was to continue to play.”
After the season, Alderman signed with Mississippi College.
“I went to visit them after the season and really like the coaches,” Alderman said. “I just thought it was the right fit for me and where God wanted me. Their starting catcher graduated so I’ll have a chance to go in and compete for a starting job. I was going to play in Utah or Iowa but after I broke my hand, I got stuck here for the summer. But I’m able to give hitting lessons and cut some yards.”
At Mississippi College, Alderman said he is going to major in kinesiology. After finishing baseball, Alderman said he was going to get a two-year nursing degree and eventually become a certified nurse practitioner.
Besides hitting balls in the batting cage on an almost daily basis with his father, NCA baseball coach Kelly Alderman, Ty was also busy in the weight room.
“Once I got to East Central, we started working out with the team and I also got surrounded by some guys that liked to work out,” Alderman said. “I lost like 25 pounds right off the bat. Then I started lifting weights and bulked up a good bit. I started doing a lot more cardio and I just feel a lot better.”
Alderman also started doing crossfit workouts and even signed up for the Iron Warrior competition at The Choctaw Indian Fair. In the competition, Alderman said they performed various strongman skills like deadlifting, throwing kegs, carrying plates, flipping skidder tires and pulling a Ford F-350.
“A bunch of my buddies had signed up and they talked me into it.” Alderman said. “It was all strongman type of competition. There were about 30 guys entered and I finished second on the first day. They cut it to 12 for the second day and I finished fourth overall. I had never done anything like that but it was fun. I only trained for about a week and did it.”
