CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Nearly a year after their season abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Miami Hurricanes took another big step towards returning to action.

The Canes held their first team practice of the 2021 season Friday, just three weeks before they are set to begin their season against the rival Florida Gators on Feb. 19.

“It’s good to be back,” head coach Gino DiMare said. “Today’s our first official practice by NCAA rules, where basically it means 20 hours a week and kind of full-throttle here all the way through. We have been out with our guys practicing through the individual workouts, which allow us minimal hours with them, but the bottom line is, it’s very nice to be back.”

Miami had one of the top teams in the country a year ago, with a potent lineup and one of the top starting rotations in Division I baseball, but the pandemic ended the Hurricanes’ season after just 16 games.

“We felt like we had a really, really good ball club last year with some of the better starting pitching I think we’ve ever had here, and we didn’t get to see it come to fruition,” DiMare said. “But as everything goes, life moves on and we’ve got to make adjustments.

“We’re excited about this year,” DiMare continued. “We’re looking forward to the season, albeit we understand it’s going to be a little different with all the adjustments that have to be made in terms of social distancing and whether it’s dugouts or crowds or travel and all the different things that go with it. There’ll be a lot of adjustments that have to be made along the way. But in sports — and certainly in life — but in sports, especially our sport, you’re always having to make adjustments. It’s just maybe a little bit more extreme now than years past.”

In addition to extended dugouts, wearing masks and expanded locker room space, the Hurricanes have taken several precautions to ensure that everyone is safely preparing for the upcoming season that they’ve anxiously been waiting for.

“We’re all super excited. I can say for myself, I’m super excited,” catcher Adrian Del Castillo said. “I haven’t played an actual game in about a year almost and I just want to be out there. I’m really happy we’re playing. I know they cut six games, but I’m not worried about that. I just thank God we’re playing in this crazy time and just go out there and have fun.”

Miami has earned rankings as high as No. 6 ahead of the start of the 2021 campaign, but DiMare knows the Hurricanes are in for a challenging year.

“We’re going to probably have one of the more challenging seasons, not just with COVID but also our schedule,” DiMare said. “Seeing that the ACC cut away six games, which took away some midweek games and some out of conference games, we added six conference games to our season so we’re playing everybody in our conference now except one team which will be Notre Dame that gets rotated out this year. When you put that with playing Florida and playing the midweek schools that we play — FAU, Florida Gulf Coast, FIU — it’s certainly going to be very challenging, but we’re looking forward to it.”

The Hurricanes feature one of their deepest rosters in recent history, as the 35 players on the roster are in the mix to be key contributors in 2021.

“We’re excited about the team,” DiMare said. “We have a lot of veterans returning, especially on the hitting side. We’ve got a very, very good recruiting class that came in, a lot of good, young players both on the mound and position players.”

Miami has eight pitchers vying for four starting rotation spots, which is the most competition DiMare can recall in his over two decades with the program. But the third-year head coach believes one veteran pitcher has a slight lead on the group because of his track record.

“[Daniel] Federman certainly would be a leading candidate because he’s a veteran guy and he’s done a little bit of everything,” DiMare said. “He has started, he’s closed, he’s set up, he’s been a long reliever in his time here. But he’s going to be a starter this year. It’s wide open in terms of who’s going to be those four guys. He’s certainly a high candidate for one of the four.”

Federman has been preparing to be a starter since the summer and is eager to have the opportunity to earn a role in the pitching rotation.

“I’ve always wanted to be a starter and I’ve always felt comfortable as a starter,” Federman said. “But what this team needed in the past was a strong reliever and I felt like that I could step up and be that guy. With this year’s team losing all three starters from last year, I’ve worked and tried to earn a spot in that rotation.”

In addition to the fourth-year right-hander, two returners and five newcomers have battled to earn one of the four starting pitcher roles.

“I think the other guys, in terms of returning guys, that are high on the list would be guys like Alex McFarlane and Jake Garland — both guys that have a chance to be those guys,” DiMare said. “And then of course you have some new guys that have come in, rookies on our team even though they’re transfer guys like Jake Smith and Jordan Dubberly. And then we have some young guys, freshmen in Alejandro Rosario, Victor Mederos and Nick Regalado. Those are guys that they’re all competing for four spots.”

There is plenty of competition on the hitting side, too. Miami brings back eight of its nine starters from a year ago, but there are several newcomers that stood out in the fall including Orange and Green World Series MVP Chad Born.

“Chad Born, the freshmen out of California, he’s a right-handed hitter and played centerfield, played it very well and swung the bat very well. He stood out, as well as Del’s older brother, Christian Del Castillo — we call him ‘Delly.’ Delly is a transfer from Seton Hall. He’s a fifth-year guy, so he’s had a lot of experience and he plays that way. He’s a very good college player, a very smart, heads-up player and is just a very solid player in all facets of the game.

“Adam Frank is another transfer that’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades,” DiMare added. “He’s one of those unique guys in that he throws right-handed in the infield and when we put them in the outfield, he throws left-handed. He swung the bat very well for us as a rookie in the fall and he’s more of a gap guy that just hit the ball over the field.”

The depth across the board will make writing out a lineup card challenging for DiMare, but Miami’s head coach believes the players will show who deserves to be in the starting nine over the next few weeks.

“It’ll play itself out, like always,” DiMare said. “Guys will be competing these next three weeks. We open up three weeks from today so we’re going to have a number of intrasquad games, so they’ll have plenty of at-bats and plenty of time in the field to prove themselves. It’s very competitive really all over our team, it’s extremely competitive, which is a good thing. Some of the younger guys did stand out in the fall and we do have veteran guys that have played well too for us. So, it’s going to be one of those things where we’re going to play the guys that we think give us the best chance to win.”

One name that will certainly be a focal point in Miami’s batting order is Del Castillo’s. The third-year hitting machine is poised for another outstanding season and many project him as a top draft pick this summer.

“Adrian Del Castillo is arguably one of the best hitters in the country and he’s certainly one of the best hitters we’ve had here, just pure hitters that can hit the ball all over the place, and he gets power and he’s an RBI machine,” DiMare said. “He’s a great, great guy to have in your lineup, and our whole thing is just trying to figure out who’s going to hit in front of them, so he can knock them in. And we got to have guys behind them that can protect him. We feel like we have a number of guys to choose from, especially even returning guys because we have eight of our nine guys in the lineup last year back.”

While Del Castillo has proven to be one of the top players in college baseball, he spent the entire offseason working to improve his craft as a catcher.

“My key was basically just getting a little bit better at catching,” Del Castillo said. “Obviously, I can improve in any part of my game, but I think catching was what I felt like I needed the most. Over the offseason I was able to work with Salvador Perez and Pete Grifol, who is the bench coach for the Royals, and they taught me a ton of things. I listened very, very closely to what they told me and I’m going to take it to my game. I was very fortunate to have them, thankfully, and they helped me a lot to improve my catching back there.”

Fellow preseason All-American JP Gates believes Miami’s roster is motivated to make a run at the College World Series. Gates sees a work ethic and determination in his teammates that the two-way standout feels will help push Miami to a deep postseason run.

“We’re just out here trying to get better every day,” Gates said. “We’re pushing each other, we’re doing work after practice, doing early work. We’re just trying to be the best team we can be.”

Many of the returners on Miami’s roster got a taste of the postseason in 2019, as the Hurricanes reached the regional final at Mississippi State. But Federman believes all of the Hurricanes on the 2021 roster have their eyes set on taking the next step as a team and getting the program back to where it belongs. That quest officially begins when they take on Florida to start the season.

“This is why I think a lot of guys come here. We want a chance to play in Omaha, we want to play the best of the best,” Federman said. “We have a rivalry. We’ve never opened up on the road since I’ve been here, so I think that’s going to be pretty cool for us. It doesn’t matter when we play them, we know we’re going to get to play them, and I know the guys are excited. It is what it is; last year is last year. I don’t think anybody in this locker room is worried about that. We know that February 19, we’re going to go out there and try to win a ballgame.”