After the success of last season's 32 win campaign and appearance in the WAC Championship game it might have seemed like the obvious choice but interim baseball coach at CSU Bakersfield said he never wanted to seem presumptuous.
Nearly seven months after being named the fill-in, Beard was officially named the Runners newest coach at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. He says it's a credit to last year's team that should go down as one of the greatest in CSUB history. "It has nothing to do with the wins and losses," he said. "It has everything to do with who they were as young men and what they brought to the table."
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With the interim label now removed, he hopes to see an immediate bump to recruiting because he can introduce himself as the head coach and show parents a stability at the school.
A walk on player at Linn Benton Community College and Oregon State University, Beard sees his same work ethic and toughness in the Bakersfield community when he scouts local players. "It's 105 (degrees)," he said of one of his recent visits. "I'm in the shade and they're out there playing and they don't even bat an eye around here. That's the exact reason why I want to recruit locally first."
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A commitment to the community that athletic director Ziggy Siegfried says will still have big goals for the future saying he hopes to see CSUB playing in the College World Series. "With the continued support of the community and the people that came today we can expedite that timeline," he said.
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