Senior Spotlight: Scott Beaton departs ONU as a leader, worker and winner 

By Bud Denega 

ADA — Scott Beaton didn't know it at the time, but the final out he'd ever record for Ohio Northern occurred against Albion March 7. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Beaton's career came to an abrupt end that day. 

On paper, the win against Albion, while celebratory, wasn't all that impactful. It wasn't a game that would have any bearing on the Ohio Athletic Conference race or one that would have pushed Northern over the top in terms of NCAA Tournament consideration.

However, for Beaton, the victory against Albion was quite significant. The win was further validation that a choice he made long ago was the right one.

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Beaton doesn't remember it, but his father, David, sure does. The first time Scott came into contact with a baseball, at the age of three, he fielded it cleanly — no error.  

"My dad said the first ball he ever threw to me, I caught," Scott Beaton said. "I guess I kind of had some natural ability."

The natural ability was there, evident at an early age as Beaton would field his shortstop position with precision and grace. He also tried his hand at pitching in a not-so-conventional fashion.  

David Beaton played professional baseball, ascending as high as AA within the Detroit Tigers organization. When Scott was developing into a baseball player, David, recognized that his son didn't have the sheer power to blow hitters away.

In order for Scott to survive and eventually thrive on the mound, he needed to change up his delivery. And thus, Beaton's side-arm and submarine method was born.

"Scott doesn't throw the hardest," ONU head coach Gene Stechschulte said. "But he finds ways to get outs by changing arm angles."

Beaton has three different arm angles. He can attack hitters with a 3/4 overhand arm angle, a traditional side arm and a submarine. 

Those varying deliveries allow Beaton to be effective when he can't reach too high a velocity. He only tops out in the mid 70s when many of his counterparts are tossing in the mid 80s and topping out near 90 miles per hour. 

"Even though it's coming in slower, I can keep hitters off balance," Beaton said. "If you don't know where the ball is coming from or how the ball is going to act, it's a lot harder to hit."

Beaton navigated his way through travel and high school ball, playing some infield and sharpening his uncommon pitching style. He knew he wanted to play baseball past his Novi High School years, but didn't realize that was a true reality until the summer following his sophomore season. 

"That summer, I started to legitimately have success against guys that were future D1 players, future D2 players, future D3 players," Beaton said. "I'm out here throwing 72 and getting these guys out."

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The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association is a Division III conference featuring teams from Michigan and Indiana. But when it comes to baseball, one team stands above the rest — Adrian. 

The Bulldogs have won the MIAA baseball championship the last 11 years. They are the standard, the bell cow when it comes to baseball in the MIAA. 

That made Adrian's recruitment quite flattering for Beaton, a Michigan-born-and-bred high school standout. Ohio Northern represented the only other school adamant about recruiting Beaton. 

So the decision came down to an MIAA power or an OAC program looking to find similar success within its respective conference. That's an easy decision then, right?

"I could show up at Adrian and never play, and they'll probably still win the league," Beaton said. "I could show up at Adrian and throw 10 innings and give up 10 runs, and they're still probably still win the league.

"I felt like Gene (Stechschulte) knew me better and had been recruiting me much longer, and I wanted to make more of a difference. I could do that at ONU."

That notion would come to fruition sooner rather than later.

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Beaton played varsity from the outset. He saw action sporadically as a freshman, but really came into his own as a sophomore. 

Beaton set an ONU single-season record appearing in 23 games as a relief pitcher, posting a 2.34 ERA, which was third-best in the OAC. Opponents batted just .220 off Beaton, which is the 13th-best single season mark in Northern history. 

"When I went out there to pitch, I legitimately felt like I was going to get the guys out," Beaton said. "That's pretty powerful as a pitcher. Even though I was still tossing them in at 73, 74 miles per hour, I believed they couldn't hit it, and a lot of the time I was right." 

Beaton's junior season didn't go as smoothy. He struggled to recapture the swagger he possessed as a sophomore. 

But Beaton rediscovered that swagger as a senior. Through 10 games, he recorded five appearances and owned a 2.45 ERA. 

He also boasted a win, against Albion, which pushed ONU's record against Michigan schools to 7-0 in Beaton's four years. That's something a Michigan kid won't soon forget. 

"I think one of the reasons that beating Michigan teams was so important to me and why I made it a goal is because I felt like people thought I made the wrong college decision," Beaton said. "If you're growing up in Michigan and you're following D3 baseball, Adrian is the place to be. I felt like I kind of went against that view to some extent. I almost felt rebellious, and I felt like in order to help validate that decision, we better not lose to any Michigan teams."

That's why the Albion game, for better or for worse, is one Beaton won't soon forget. While it was an unceremonious end to a memorable and successful career, it was also one final piece of evidence that Beaton made the right choice when he committed to ONU.