After serving one year as interim head coach, Jeremy Beard was hired as permanent head coach of the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners in July of 2017.
The Roadrunners went through fall practice in 2016 with head coach Bob Macaluso before firing him in mid-December. School officials said they wanted a more positive direction for the baseball program and named Beard as the team’s interim’s head coach for the 2017 campaign.
Beard led the Roadrunners to a resurgence, as the team turned their record around from a 19-37 record to a 32-24 finish in 2017. The Roadrunners finished in third place in the Western Athletic Conference, placed seven players on All-Conference teams and for the third time in five years had a pitcher earn ‘Pitcher of the Year’ in Max Carter.
Beard came to CSUB after coaching at the University of Portland during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He served as the outfield and hitting coach for 19-year head coach, Chris Sperry. In 2014, Beard was the head b aseball coach in the West Coast Collegiate League for the Portland Lobos.
He quickly returned to the college ranks, becoming the Associate Athletic Director while serving as the Associate Head Coach at Columbia Basin College (Wash.). During a nine-year stint with the Hawks from 2001 to 2010, Beard impacted the college by leading the fundraising, community relations, facility projects, academic advising, and game management for the athletic department. He was the lead on raising funds and major gifts in kind for facility projects such as a new soccer facility and a four locker room building among other projects.
As a coach at CBC, Beard served many roles but was primarily the pitching and catching coach, helping the program earn a record of 309-84 (.786) including six conference championships. The Hawks qualified for the NWAC Championship tournament all nine seasons, winning the 2006 championship and finishing in the top five out of 28 teams eight times. The Hawks ranked among the nation’s Top 25 teams six times and reached the nation’s Top 10 list on three occasions. CBC hurlers won the conference pitching title all nine seasons in record-breaking form including team ERA (1.36) and strikeouts (470).
Twenty six of Beard’s former players have been selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft including Big Leaguers, Darrel Ceciliani, Jr. (fourth round, MLB, NY Mets) and Steve Ames (MLB, Florida Marlins).
As a relentless recruiter at Columbia Basin College, Beard was called on to double as an Associate Scout for the Florida Marlins (2003-2004) and the Boston Red Sox (2004-2007) under Jon Booher.
In 2011, Beard joined the NJCAA at Western Nevada College where he served as the pitching coach for two seasons. Upon his arrival, the Wildcats thrived with the best back-to-back seasons in school history, winning 93 games and setting program records for earned run average (2.47), strikeouts (522), and opposing batting average (.209).
The Wildcats claimed the Scenic West Championship in record-breaking fashion in 2011 with a record of 37-3. In 2012, the team won the West Coast Region Championship, earning a trip to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Co. Over the two-year period, six players, including five pitchers, were selected in the MLB amateur draft including fifth-round selection and current Cleveland Indians top prospect and 40-man roster member, Dylan Baker (fifth round, MLB, Cleveland Indians).
Over the years, 34 of Beard’s players were selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and 62 student-athletes earned a scholarship to play in power conferences around the country.
Beard has proven experience recruiting players in southern and northern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, and the Pacific Northwest.
As a walk-on player at Oregon State University, Beard helped the Beavers claim the Pac-10 North Conference title in 1994 for OSU’s legendary coach, Jack Riley. As a starting pitcher, he won nine games and was named the Bill Bonser Award winner, given to the Most Improved Player. A year later, Beard was named a team captain in 1995 for current OSU skipper and future Hall of Famer, Pat Casey.
Prior to his arrival at OSU, Beard was a walk-on at Linn Benton CC, where he served as the program’s team captain for Head Coach Greg Hawk. As a two-way player, Beard helped the Roadrunners earn back-to-back Championship Tournament appearances in 1992 and 1993.
Beard earned a BS in education from Oregon State in 1996 and he completed his master’s in education at the American Intercontinental University in 2004. Jeremy and his wife Annie have two sons: Logan and Wyatt.
The post Jeremy Beard, Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners appeared first on College Baseball Now.
Comentarios