Orange Coast’s Beerer Has a Busy Day

Orange Coast College baseball player Scott Beerer said he had never heard of Bert Campaneris. But the freshman recently matched the former major leaguer’s rare feat of playing all nine field positions in a game.

Beerer, a graduate of Newport Harbor High, played every position in the Pirates’ 10-1 victory over Reedley at the College of the Sequoias tournament April 12 in Visalia.

“It started as a joke at the beginning of the year,” Beerer said. “But Coach [John Altobelli] always wanted me to play every position in a game, and I knew I could do it.”

Beerer began the game catching, moved to third base for the second inning and to shortstop for the third, when he threw out a runner from deep in the hole while on one knee.

He was at second base for the fourth inning and first base for the fifth. He then moved to the outfield, playing left in the sixth, center in the seventh and right in the eighth.

Beerer finished up on the mound, striking out one without allowing a hit, a walk or a run.

He finished with three put-outs and two assists. At the plate, he singled and walked in four at-bats.

“In high school I played a bunch of different positions during practice,” said Beerer, who was primarily a shortstop for the Sailors. “I was always familiar with those spots, so what I did felt natural.”

He usually is the starting right-fielder for Orange Coast, third on the team in hitting with a .350 average, and also has pitched. He sat out most of last season at Newport Harbor because of a back injury.

Campaneris, then a shortstop with the Kansas City Athletics, became the first major leaguer to play every field position in a game in 1965--against the Los Angeles Angels.