Daily Pilot College Athlete of the Month: Scott Beerer - All

business

Tony Altobelli

It was a rainy day on the Orange Coast College campus so baseball

coach John Altobelli brought the troops into the gym for some whiffleball

batting practice.

“I’m throwing to Scott Beerer and he rips a line shot and hits me

(south of the boarder) and I go down for the count,” Altobelli recalls.

“I look up and he’s rolling on the floor laughing his head off. It’s the

only time I’ve ever seen him smile. I guess I have to take one for the

team to get him to smile.”

On the outside, Beerer is all business. The Newport Harbor High grad

is hitting .412 this year. He’s tied with teammate Josh McCanne with 42

hits and he’s among the team leaders with 20 RBIs.

Not just an offensive weapon, Beerer is also the Pirates’ No. 1

starting pitcher. He’s 3-1 with a 2.13 ERA over 42 1/3 innings of work.

Included in those seven starts was a 2-0 complete-game, nine-hit,

eight-strikeout masterpiece against Orange Empire Conference bully

Cypress on March 15.

“I’m just trying to do my part,” Beerer said. “I don’t think I’m doing

anything special. I’ve been able to come up with the game on the line a

couple of times and I’ve been fortunate enough to do my job, whether it’s

hitting or pitching.”

In addition to Beerer’s pitching performance against the Chargers,

here’s a couple of other big games from the Daily Pilot Athlete of the

Month.

On March 6, Beerer’s two-out, game-winning hit in the 12th inning

propelled the Pirates over Irvine Valley, 3-2.

In a wild, high-scoring game, Beerer clubbed a two-out home run in the

10th inning to give OCC a 12-11 win over Cypress.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him and much, much more,”

Altobelli said of Beerer. “He’s one of the best all-around athletes I’ve

ever coached here at OCC. He can play any position in the field and he’s

all business out there. He’s helped bring up the intensity level on our

team.”

People may look at Beerer’s demeanor on the field and think he’s cocky

or arrogant, but those adjectives are far from Beerer’s personality.

“I’m just not much of a rah-rah type of guy,” Beerer said. “I look at

it like I’ve got a job to do and while I’m playing, I’m going to give it

100% every day.”

Beerer, an All-Sea View League selection and a two-time

All-Newport-Mesa District choice at Newport Harbor, was recruited heavily

before a back injury hampered his senior season at Newport Harbor.

“Long Beach State, Cal Berkeley and Biola were a few school interested

in me,” Beerer said. “Then, when I threw my back out, the phones stopped

ringing. I talked with Coach Altobelli and I met the other coaches and I

liked what they were doing over here, so I came to OCC. I love it here.

It’s a great program to be a part of.”

With his back healthy once again, Beerer has been working the OCC

pitching coach Dave Bowman and the work is paying off. “Coach Bowman has

helped me get a lot more movement on my fastball by changing my arm

location and I’m developing a change-up,” Beerer said. “In high school, I

could just throw as hard as I could, but here, you need to have two or

three quality pitches.”

With the Major League Baseball draft approaching, Beerer will be

keeping his eye on the future, but knows there’s still more work to be

done.

“I’ll see how high I go, but I don’t think I’ll sign this year,”

Beerer said. “I know there’s a ton of stuff I need to improve on and for

me to play at the next level, I need to get better.”

It’s that work ethic that’s helped the Pirates to an 18-7 record, 8-5 in the OEC, a far cry from last year’s 18-23, 8-16 debacle.

“I think this a team that can not only make the playoffs, but go a

long way in the playoffs,” Beerer said. “This is also a team that can

lose to anyone, so we have to play at our best every time out there. If

we play at our best, we can compete with anyone.”

When not on the baseball field, Beerer likes to hang out with friends

and will occasionally do some snowboarding. “The coaches have been on me

for staying out a little too late with the guys, so I’m trying to behave

a little better,” Beerer said with a laugh.

Yes, a laugh.