NC Florida News

University of Florida issued the following announcement on July 28.

The thought first entered his mind in high school and again at UF as Mark Kolozsvary watched some of his teammates gain valuable experience – and memorable experiences – through USA Baseball.

Primarily a reserve catcher during his time with the Gators behind Mike Rivera and JJ Schwarz, Kolozsvary was always ready when his name was called, earning the respect of those around him. Scouts noticed too. Shortly after helping Florida win the program's first national title in 2017, the Cincinnati Reds selected the 5-foot-8, 180-pound Kolozsvary in the seventh round and off he went to begin his professional career.

Four years later, the 25-year-old Kolozsvary is not only part of USA Baseball, but he is the starting catcher for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics. Kolozsvary arrived in Japan a week ago to prepare for the U.S. Olympic Team's first game Friday against Israel (6 a.m. ET, live stream on NBCOlympics.com and NBC Sports app).

On Friday night, Kolozsvary took part in the opening ceremonies and provided a report back to his family in Tavares, the small town in Central Florida that touts itself as "America's Seaplane City" and where Kolozsvary was raised and still calls home when baseball season ends.

"He's had quite an amazing week so far,'' said Holly Kolozsvary, Mark's mother. "You always want your child to be able to live their dream. He was always that little guy that kept head down, stayed focused, kept telling himself, 'I can do it, I can do it,' and he's doing it.

"I could not be more proud. He's always been just an amazing, great guy. As a kid, he was easy, easy, easy. He followed rules and did everything I asked him to do. It's so much fun being his mom."

It sounds like fun these days to be Kolozsvary as well.

During a recent chat to discuss his upcoming trip to the Olympics, Kolozsvary had just finished starting four consecutive games in the 2021 Baseball Americas Qualifier in South Florida. He hit .417 with a team-best two homers and three RBI in wins over Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Canada and Venezuela.

To play in the tournament, he broke away from his minor-league season with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. As soon as the Olympic qualifier was over, Kolozsvary headed to Birmingham, Ala., to rejoin the Lookouts for a short stretch before reconnecting with Team USA for a string of pre-Olympic games in Cary, N.C. Then it was off to Tokyo.

Mark Kolozsvary steps on home plate after hitting a home run during his junior season in 2017. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

"I'm kind of all over the place," he said. "Hard to keep my schedule straight. It's something I always wanted to do and I'm super excited to put on the Team USA uniform. I think they were just kind of looking for a catcher for the qualifier and saw that I got off to a good start this season and contacted the Reds to see if they would let me go. The team has to give you permission. The Reds contacted me and said they gave me permission. It was just kind of a word-of-mouth thing."

Kolozsvary impressed from the start, especially the way he handled a pitching staff of ex-big leaguers such as Scott Kazmir, Edwin Jackson and David Robertson, and a group of up-and-coming prospects.

Former Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who spent more than a decade in the majors as a catcher and won World Series with the 1981 and '88 Dodgers, had enough confidence in Kolozsvary to give him playing time ahead of Tim Federowicz, who has eight seasons of major-league experience.

"Not only is he a terrific receiver, he understands game planning, he understands putting pitches together, and made such a quick study of our pitching, which was really the main reason why we were able to move forward,'' Scioscia said. "That was critical in what we did and what we want to do. We've got a lot of confidence in Mark. He showed he is ready for higher baseball.

"He's a guy that will definitely play in the major leagues at some point."

Kolozsvary proved his worth as a catcher long before he got to Tavares High or UF. The youngest of three Kolozsvary boys, Mark is nine years younger than his oldest brother, Matthew, a former baseball player.

"He had Mark literally catching when he was 4,'' Holly said.

Mark said he turned his full attention to the position around eighth grade when his team needed someone to catch and he volunteered. In the years since, the move has paid off many times over and now includes a trip to the Olympics.

If his rise from Gators backup to Team USA starter seems unexpected to casual observers, Kolozsvary understands.

"There was Mike and JJ, both really great catchers,'' he said. "I feel like just getting on the field and getting to play more and learning the day-to-day things, that has really helped."

Kolozsvary has received congratulatory texts from some of his ex-Gators teammates, telling him to bring home the gold. Meanwhile, former Gators closer Michael Byrne is his roommate when he is playing for Chattanooga.

Chattanooga manager Ricky Gutierrez recently praised Kolozsvary for his leadership and improvement during his time in the Reds' organization, fully aware of the work Kolozsvary has put in to make a dream a reality.

"His all-around game has improved tremendously," Gutierrez told TheAthletic.com. "He has worked hard, and we've been together now since 2019, and I've seen the progress. I'm so proud of him, his work ethic is unbelievable. I'm just happy for him to have this big moment and play in an Olympics."

So is his mom.

"I've already got my DVR set, ready to go,'' said Holly Kolozsvary, an administrator at AdventHealth Waterman, a Lake County hospital where Mark was born and his girlfriend and UF graduate, Zulema Ramirez, works as a nurse. "We will be supporting him 100 percent."

They won't be alone.

Original source can be found here.