Heavener shortstop Angel Alverez plays through hemophilia as Wolves program improves

HENRYETTA, Okla. – Bryan Cartwright has coached baseball for 18 years, yet when Heavener shortstop Angel Alverez did a traditional slide into third base Tuesday, Cartwright began to worry beyond being out or safe.

“You worry about him every time, I do,” said Cartwright, the Heavener baseball coach, who also coaches at third base when the team is hitting. “But it’s not going to matter. He’s going to go at it hard, so I’m just not going to react to it.”

Diagnosed with Classic Hemophilia A, Alverez lives with fear yet doesn’t let his circumstances affect him.

“Right now, I’m just playing ball because I love playing baseball,” Alverez said. “At the same time, I’m scared to get hurt, but as long as I get to play, that’s all that matters.”

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Alverez is hitting .407 with 25 RBI for the season for Heavener (16-11).

“Angel plays as hard as he can all of the time,” said Trevor Grubbs, a senior teammate and longtime friend. “No matter what situation he is in, he’s going to give it everything he’s got and even if he has to have that problem, he’s going to do it even if he knows that could happen.”

Alverez was diagnosed with the condition when he was 4 after he twisted his knee and it swelled to the size of an orange or grapefruit.

Being from an athletic background, Alverez's mom Sandra Ceja Garcia and her husband felt that the situation was unusual. Eventually, her son was referred to the Jimmy Everest Center in Oklahoma City.

Alverez is deficient in Factor VIII, which is an essential blood-clotting protein. Alverez is not more prone to injury but faces two-to-three times more pain afterwards and tends to bleed longer than the average person.

There are three classifications for hemophilia: mild, moderate and severe. Alverez has the mild form. That allows him to play sports, and he doesn’t have to take medication regularly but does on an “as needed basis.” In instances of need, Alverez takes Advate shots and uses ice for treatment after games.

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Garcia said her son has only had one injury over the last 14 years, a torn shin from sliding into second base last season against Talihina. While it started as a minor bleed, Alverez missed about two weeks from what his coach considered a standard slide.

“I was stealing second base and when I slid, it hurt pretty badly, but I didn’t think anything of it because athletes get hurt and stuff,” Alverez recalled. “But then I stole third base and I slid and I felt something pretty bad and I was running to home while limping and once I got to the dugout, I couldn’t pick up my leg.”

From an emotional standpoint, Alverez says that events like sliding create fear and in certain moments, has blends of fear and euphoria, citing a game-winning run against Pocola when he was in junior high. For his mother, it’s a “new normal” that she says doesn’t alter how she feels during the game.

Despite the situation, Alverez leads by example for a Heavener program that improved from 13-23 last season. As a base-stealer, he is 20 for 21 and on Tuesday, easily beat out a throw to first on a ground ball to Henryetta's second baseman.

More broadly, his mother doesn’t view it as a disability or deterrent but an opportunity.

“If you need to battle harder, you just need to battle harder; that’s all it is,” Garcia said. “You just kind of have to deal with it, but don’t be afraid to seek out the resources, seek out the information and don’t let that be a barrier for whatever you’re trying to accomplish.”

You can follow Bryant Roche on Twitter @BRocheSports and you can email him at BRoche@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Heavener High School baseball: Angel Alvarez plays with hemophilia