Adame Officially Named Next Head Coach of ELAC Baseball
by Cerwin D Haynes
(photos by Mario Villegas, @marviljr)
Take off that Interim tag!
Alec Adame - who guided East LA College's baseball team to a surprise top-20 ranking in SoCal this past season - has been formally named the next head coach of the Huskies. He will officially succeed former long-time head coach James Hines, who resigned from the dugout in July of 2021. Adame served under Hines as an assistant coach before he was named as the interim head coach.
We caught up with Coach Adame through email to get his thoughts on his formal hiring. As one would imagine, he's out on the recruiting trail for the next crop of future Huskies.
CDH: Congratulations on formerly being named the next Huskies head coach! You led the program this past year as an interim and now it's been made official. How does that feel?
AA: I am extremely excited and honored to continue to officially be apart of the Husky family! The opportunity to lead ELAC Baseball, and most importantly the opportunity to teach our student-athletes how to become leaders on campus and in our community is what myself and our coaching staff will cherish the most!
CDH: Obviously, every coach wants to put their own stamp on their program. Before last year, you served as an assistant under James Hines, a man who led the program for a quarter century. Name two or three things you learned from Hines that you feel helped prepare you to lead this program.
AA: James Hines is a great friend to myself and my family! He has always been a mentor to me and our coaching staff! This job is about preparing our student-athletes for the next level in the matriculation process. Teaching our student-athletes how to earn an opportunity at the next level both academically and athletically. James Hines was second to none with this concept!
CDH: Although this past season's team missed the playoffs, they were considered a surprise team during the season. The team played one of the toughest schedules in the state and were in the mix for the conference lead up until April. What's the next step for this program, and how will you get there?
AA: This past season we had a first place lead in the South Coast Conference about 70% of the way. We had some injuries towards the end, and we fell short of getting in the playoffs. The next step for our baseball program, and the way we will get to a conference championship is we will continue to set high expectations on our student-athletes both academically and athletically. It is our priority for participation and matriculating our student-athletes. Players and coaches will have expectations of each other everyday we step onto the baseball field. Our players will understand that when preparing for anything, the process is much more important than the result. As a coaching staff, our responsibility is to put the team concept and team attitude into play. Our team chemistry is developed when our players accept their roles and buy into the process that the coaching staff outlines for them! As a coach in the East Los Angeles College Baseball Program, we respect players that give their absolute best everyday, and players should expect the same from their coaches as well!
ELAC Athletic Director Bobby Godinez looks forward to Adame officially taking the reigns. "Adame beat out a talented crop of applicants," says Godinez. "We were able to get a good look at how he handled the program in Interim status, and we're excited to see the kind of asset he'll be to the program and our student-athletes."