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Growing up in the Phoenix area, Adrian Alvarado had the opportunity to watch spring training baseball games.

He knew one day he would like to return to Arizona to play college baseball.

The Tyler High School senior will get that chance after Alvarado signed a baseball scholarship with Ottawa University-Arizona during a ceremony on Wednesday at the THS gymnasium.

“I always dreamed of this day when I would have the opportunity to play college baseball,” said Alvarado, who plans to major in engineering. “I grew up in Phoenix before moving to Tyler about 2-and-a-half years ago. I watched (Ottawa) and really like their program.”

With his parents and 4-year-old young brother looking on, Alvarado signed with the Spirit, an NAIA college.

Also at the ceremony were his baseball coaches, including head coach Seth Gibson, along with his baseball teammates.

“Today, we celebrate Adrian Alvarado’s commitment to furthering his academic and baseball career at Ottawa University,” Gibson said. “Adrian has been a true leader on our team, and his hard work and loyalty to the Tyler High Baseball Program have been instrumental in our rebuild. We couldn’t be prouder of his accomplishments and have full faith that he will achieve great things at the next level.

“Congratulations, Adrian — we believe in you.”

The Spirit recruited Alvarado as a middle infielder as he plays both shortstop and second base for the Lions. He also plays select ball with the East Texas Titans, a squad based in Smith County.

His summer statistics included a .492 batting average with 20 stolen bases and a .991 fielding percentage.

Alvarado is on the District 10-5A preseason watch list.

OUAZ will look to return to the NAIA National Tournament for the second time in program history after the Spirit earned their first visit last season.

Coach Tim Montez is entering his eighth season as head baseball coach.

Ottawa-Arizona, which was founded in 2015, is located in Surprise, Arizona and use the facilities where the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals conduct spring training. The school is a private university has other campuses in Ottawa, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Milwaukee.

The is affiliated with the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma and the American Baptist Churches USA

The Spirit compete in the Golden State Athletic Conference with Arizona Christian University (Glendale, Arizona), Benedictine University at Mesa (Mesa, Arizona), Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University–Prescott (Prescott, Arizona), Hope International University (Fullerton, Arizona), Life Pacific University (San Dimas, California), The Master’s University (Santa Clarita, California) and Park University-Gilbert (Gilbert, Arizona).