First Posted: 1/8/2014
Scott Bean started hearing as a youngster that he had the potential to someday play college baseball at the highest level.
Bean has spent time during his high school career at Lake-Lehman taking the steps to make that happen.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound, right-hander, who is preparing for his senior season at Lake-Lehman this spring, will go into the season with a commitment already in place to play NCAA Division I baseball at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Bean gave a verbal commitment to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference school in September and formally signed his Letter of Intent during the early signing period in November.
The process, however, started much earlier.
Bean worked with NCSA Sports, an athletic recruiting website, to get his information out and to find out about potential schools. He joined Chandler National baseball, a travel team out of Altoona to get exposure to top competition and major recruiters. Despite seeing varsity playing time as a sophomore, Bean gave up basketball at that point to concentrate on the sport he would take into his future.
When the process had run its course, Bean found himself committed to a college whose existence he was not even aware of when he first started working with recruiters.
Bean sent e-mail inquiries to coaches from all around the country through NCSA and received interest from Maryland-Eastern Shore, a team he saw play against Norfolk State during an unofficial visit.
UMES assistant coach John O’Neil went to see Bean pitch for Chandler in South Carolina last summer.
“Coach O’Neil saw me at Coast Carolina when we were down there for a tournament and I got an offer two weeks later,” Bean said. “They didn’t put me on a deadline; they just said to talk it over with my family.”
Bean arranged an official visit in September and, by the time he was preparing to meet with his family and head home, he had texted his father, Chris Bean, to tell him that the Princess Anne, Md. school was the perfect fit.
Before beginning his college career, Bean heads into what should be his fourth season as a starter at Lake-Lehman. He has pitched and also played outfield, first base and third base for the Black Knights, starting since his freshman year when he helped the team to division and district championships.
Bean credits former coach Chip Sorber with encouraging him to pursue the chance of being a college player.
“Big Country, as we call him, has a ton of potential,” Chandler baseball director Mark Helsel said in a story on the team’s website. “He’s got the prototypical pitcher’s build and he is very strong.
“I think he’s going to blossom as a college player.”
Bean was recruited as a pitcher and may add work at other positions to land a spot in the batting order in the future.
“Right now, I’m primarily going to go down as a pitcher,” said Bean, who plans to major in business. “They said when they saw me with my height and my weight, they’re going to see if I can swing it, but mainly their focus for me is pitching.”
Pedro Swann is the head coach at UMES, which went 8-45 last season, including 4-20 in the MEAC.
