Raised on the Game, Calarco Delivers Big for Maryland Baseball

A young Alex Calarco once participated in a fifth-grade drawing competition at school by creating an illustration of his choice. 

When his parents saw what he decided to draw, they couldn’t believe it. He showed off his creative skills by drawing the Maryland state flag — an odd choice for someone who had grown up in Illinois and never once visited the state located hundreds of miles away.  

“We’re like, what the heck is this?” Alex’s mother, Sheri, said. “Where does this come from? We have never been to Maryland. He’s like, ‘I just like the colors.’ … That stuck in my head when Maryland came calling as far as transferring schools.”

Calarco and his Maryland state flag illustration were selected as the competition's winners. But if his attraction to the Maryland state flag wasn’t enough, he also customized his own Wilson baseball glove using the colors red, gold, white and black when he was 11.

As his mother pointed out, none of the teams he played on, cheered for or grew up around as a child had those colors. He was simply intrigued by the colors that represent the core brand of the University of Maryland. 

“My glove was literally Maryland colors, and I randomly picked them as my favorites,” Calarco said. “If I still had the glove today, I could wear it on the field, and no one would even bat an eye.”

Calarco’s childhood drawing and appeal to the University of Maryland’s color palette foreshadowed his future. The catcher for Maryland baseball is where he was meant to be, and he’s enjoying a career year. 

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound senior slugger was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, an award given annually to the best amateur baseball player in the country. He has a slash line of .279/.428/.584 with career-bests in runs (53), hits (55), home runs (17) and RBI (59).   

“Just happy for him to bounce back after last year,” head Maryland baseball coach Matt Swope said. “He didn't have the greatest experience at Northwestern and bounced back from two major injuries. People don't realize how trying that is back-to-back years. I think his senior year is just him giving in, enjoying himself and having fun playing baseball again. It's nice to see the success transpire and him have a really good experience in his final year.”

Calarco experienced challenges and setbacks before having his breakout senior campaign. He had been recovering from a torn labrum and rotator cuff repair when he transferred to Maryland during the 2023 off-season. The injury forced Calarco to sit out the fall season, and when the 2024 season rolled around, the coaching staff had him in the lineup as a designated hitter for the first half of the year to ensure his full healing. 

He split time between designated hitter and catcher in his 41 games played as a junior. He started the year hot but ended the year batting just .213 with 19 RBI and four home runs. It wasn’t the fresh start he envisioned when he entered the transfer portal. 

“I needed to go back to the drawing board and understand why I was having success early,” Calarco said. “At the end of last year, I wasn't playing every game. It's given me a perspective that this game can be taken away from you at any point, and every time you step on the field, you gotta execute and have as much fun with it as you possibly can.”

Calarco played his first two seasons at Northwestern from 2022-23 before coming to Maryland. Located in Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern’s baseball field was just 10 minutes from the driveway of his childhood home.  

Baseball was always a big part of Calarco’s life, including the rest of his family. His grandfather played slow-pitch softball in Chicago, where the sport originated. His father, John, played baseball professionally for the Salt Lake City Trappers in the Pioneer Baseball League in 1992. John then passed down a passion for baseball to his two sons.  

“I grew up loving and playing the game,” John said. “My dad taught it to me, and it was always my main focus. I just carried on that tradition of teaching both boys what I knew. Sheri and I bought a home across the street from a baseball field on purpose.”

The field across the street from Calarco’s home in Kenilworth — located on the north side of Chicago — is known as Pee Wee Park & Playfield. This is where the Calarcos spent most of their time together as a family. It’s also where Alex hit his first home run that doinked off a porta-potty in center field. 

The ballpark, which was roughly 100 feet from the front door of the family’s home, held sentimental value. Although the Calarcos moved out of the house more than 10 years ago, they brought a jar filled with dirt from the ballpark to their new home. 

“That’s where I grew up and initially fell in love with the game,” Calarco said. “That's where my dad taught me the fundamentals of baseball and how fun it can be when playing with people you love. My brother, my dad and I were at that field every day. My mom would be there, of course, shagging balls in the outfield.

Despite being a talented basketball player with a strong desire to play football, Calarco stuck with baseball. It later became a dream to play collegiately at Northwestern, essentially his hometown school. 

“He and his brother did the Northwestern baseball camps every summer since they were 5 years old because we lived so close to the university,” Sheri said. “It was an easy, natural thing.”

His older brother, Anthony, joined the Wildcats’ baseball team while Calarco was still in high school in 2019. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to play alongside his brother — whom he looks up to.    

“He just followed along with what his brother did,” John said. “He admired his brother and wanted to be exactly like him. To this day, he says he plays the game for our family, and that's humbling to hear.”

Anthony, a first baseman, played for the Wildcats from 2019-22 before wrapping up his collegiate career at Ole Miss. He signed with the Texas Rangers and currently plays for the Frontier League’s Schaumburg Boomers. 

Calarco missed half of his freshman season at Northwestern while recovering from Tommy John surgery, which was required after an injury sustained during his senior year of high school. But he battled back from recovery to play 22 games alongside his brother before another injury shut him down for the remainder of the season. 

Injuries weren’t the only hurdles Calarco was tasked with clearing. His sophomore year was met with an unprecedented challenge that headlined college baseball. The Wildcats hired a new head coach over the offseason. Before they played a game in 2023, several assistant coaches suddenly resigned.  

Northwestern played the entire 2023 season short-staffed, finishing with a 10-40 record. Its coach was then fired following the season amid allegations of bullying and fostering a toxic work environment. Calarco was one of over a dozen players who entered the transfer portal. He entered after also discovering he would need to undergo labrum and shoulder reconstruction.

“I had a decent year and knew I was a good player,” Calarco said. “But for a coach to take a chance on me, it was them going out on a limb.”

Calarco still received interest from many high-major programs nationwide, including Alabama and LSU. But Swope was one of the first to reach out on behalf of Maryland. Everything fell into place from there. 

Aware of the surgery Calarco needed, Swope explained how he underwent shoulder reconstruction twice in his playing career. He also disclosed how his approach to coaching each individual differently through motor preferences would help him stay healthy and unlock his true potential. 

Calarco described his ensuing two-day visit to College Park as “picturesque.” He took Swope’s word and committed to the Terps during a breakfast with the coach and his family. 

“Me becoming a Terp was just something that fell perfectly into place,” Calarco said. “I felt that it was a place where I could get better as a player and develop as a human being overall. I had always been close to home. It's been a great experience to branch out and spread my wings.”

This past offseason, Calarco worked with Swope to make technical changes to his swing and batting stance. Swope’s expertise allowed him to understand his body better, what he’s proficient at and where his power comes from. In return, this allowed him to tailor his approach towards maximizing his skills. Calarco says it was an eye-opening process. 

The catcher credits much of his success this season to Swope. He says his guidance has allowed him to stay healthy, as evidenced by his playing in every game this season. The catcher regards remaining healthy as the biggest catalyst in his success. 

“The talent was always there,” Swope said. “He was a great studnet at Northwestern and comes from a baseball pedigree. … I think he's put himself in a position to play professional baseball. I think his physical traits and the numbers he has will put him in a position to do that this summer.”

A change of scenery and integrating science into Calarco’s swing has netted a breakout senior season. He now hopes to join his father and brother as family members to play professional baseball.  

But as he wraps up his final year of college ball with the Terps, the defining decision to enter the transfer portal and bet on himself is one he looks back on fondly. It has allowed him to smile more and have fun. As Calarco’s parents highlighted, seeing him approach the game with a newfound love is all they could ask for.   

“I'm so grateful for the people that I've been exposed to, and just the mentality of Maryland as a whole, wanting to be the best at everything,” Calarco said. “I enjoy going out there and battling with my teammates and coaches. I appreciate all the support that Maryland has given me and being able to represent Maryland. It's one of the best universities in the nation, so it's just been an honor.”