Alex Sosa: "We All Love Playing The Game"

NC State catcher Alex Sosa met with the media to discuss his opportunity as a sophomore, the start of the season, and much more.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

First of all, just how nice is it to be back on the field playing the game you love? 

No doubt, the second spring, or sorry, Christmas break was over. First thing I thought about was getting back here, and I know a lot of you guys showed up early, and a lot of you want to be ready to go. So that's what I'm excited about.
 

What can you tell us about this team? 

We're definitely young, but we all love playing the game. So I think that's gonna be very important for us this year. And the other thing is we all challenge each other. We all give each other crap, and just push each other to be better. So, you see it every day we come out here, everybody's going up against each other, and we're all getting better. 
 

What do you feel maybe the team's strength is right now? And conversely, maybe what you might be somewhat worried about? 

I think this team definitely just has a lot of fun. Obviously, last year's team did as well, but I kinda see the same thing this year. And I think as long as things are going good, and we're enjoying the game, we're gonna be okay, we're gonna be good. 
 

What have you learned most from last year?

Yeah, the biggest thing last year for sure is definitely just the mental side. You're gonna go through the ups, you're gonna go through the downs. Mentioning earlier how I said we're a young team. I think once they get the hang of that, I think no question we'll be able to go deep. And I would say that's probably the biggest thing for me, is that mental side. Not to let anything really get to you, and just stay focused.
 

How much did you grow from that? 

Yeah, I'm able to laugh about it now, obviously, at the time. I think that's one of the things that, as I mentioned, I've learned from it, and just enjoy the game, no matter how it's going statistically or whatever.
 

What are these early practices? How important are they to get this thing rolling for you guys, these early practices? 

The scrimmages are great. Obviously, the scrimmage is gonna be as close as we can get to a game-like situation. So anytime we can get out here and scrimmage, I know it's really important to coach. I know it's really important to us to just get out here and play. 
 

And you guys are in a pretty good neighborhood, too. I mean, just down the road, Carolina's good. Down the road, Duke's good, Campbell, what you see. Just what's it like playing against teams like that and having so many really good teams close by? 

I grew up in Florida, so I was always thinking Florida had the best competition. And last year, when we played midweek games, our midweek guys were local teams that are ranked top 15, top 20 in the country. So, I mean, we've seen that again this year, all the rankings and stuff. Yeah, there's a ton of competition here. Anytime you can play against good talent, it's always good for the team.
 

Do you think you guys might fly under the radar a little bit this year, possibly? What do people think of you guys? 

I'm sure some people think high, some people think low of us. I mean, I think as far as we're concerned, I know the team's not too focused about rankings or anything like that. So we're all just out there wanting to compete, wanting to win games, just like everybody else.
 

But aside from the rankings, how far do you think this team can go? 

I think any team's capable of going far. I mean, obviously, I like my team always. But we just, like I said, stay focused, stay playing the game, keep having fun, and I think we can have a deep run.
 

On the decision to come back for the 2025 season…

I had to make a decision last summer. I was fortunate to go play for Team USA, that was a great experience. And after that, I talked to the coaches, and I just decided that to stay home, kind of keep training, keep getting stronger. Obviously, you saw what Cozart did last year. He got pretty much the majority of the games. So that was important for me, it was just to make sure my body was in shape to be able to do things that he did last year. So that was kind of my main focus. And obviously, hitting and catching, that was all, that was all part of my job.
 

What's the biggest thing you've learned from him? 

Yeah, I mean, Coach talks to me about it all the time, and I talk to Cozart all the time about it. Even when things aren't going good, whether it's defensively, offensively, the way he's interacting with his teammates is the most important. Specifically being a catcher, but just as an overall teammate as well, it's very important.
 

How big is your relationship with Cozart from last year, and then going into this year, being able to rely on him as a resource for continuing the catching tradition here at NC State?

Right, yeah, him and I talk all the time. I mean, anytime I have a question, I know I can go to the coaches, but I also know I can go to Cozart. Obviously, he went through everything last year that me and the other catchers are about to go through, so anytime we can go back to them, I think it's really important. And fortunately, Cozart's a great guy, and he's always the one Coach wants to help out, so. 
 

What's happening in the pitching world for you in communication with the pitchers? 

All the catchers have good relationships with the pitchers. I'm sure the pitchers, when they go out there, whether it's me, Julien Peissel, Preston Bonn, I mean, they feel comfortable with everybody. And I think it's just part of, everybody's young, everybody's getting along with each other. We all mess with each other, we're all good friends, I feel like. So I think everybody's comfortable with everybody, so, all right.