July 22, 2011
Brockport's Justin Beach Wins ECAC Upstate Baseball Coach of the Year
The College at Brockport’s baseball team qualified for another NCAA tournament and won the third-most games in school history. En route to earning an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, Brockport compiled an impressive 30-14 overall mark and went 13-5 in the always-competitive State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).
Justin Beach, Brockport’s fourth-year head coach, was honored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) as its Division III Upstate Coach of the Year. It was the second coaching award collected by Beach for the 2011 season, as he was also named the SUNYAC’s Walter Nitardy Coach of the Year.
“The secret to a good coach is to surround yourself with good people, and the great players and assistant coaches I have here worked so hard to make last season a success,” Beach said. “We put good players on the field and that makes my job easier. Although (this award) has my name on it, this is basically a team award. If our team didn’t win 30 games, I wouldn’t have won this award.”
Brockport advanced into the SUNYAC championship series before falling to eventual champion Cortland. These Golden Eagles went 3-2 in the New York Regional to finish in third place in the school's first-ever at-large appearance in the NCAA tournament.
“Our program has really emerged as one of the top programs not only in the SUNYAC, but in the country,” Beach said. “That’s a reflection of all the hard work and long hours we’ve dedicated to Brockport baseball and I can’t wait to get back on the field and continue that tradition.”
After another successful season, Beach said he “can’t wait” to get his solid mix of returning players, transfer student-athletes and incoming freshman onto the field for the 2012 season.
“Our program has really emerged as one of the top programs not only in the SUNYAC, but in the country,” Beach said. “That’s a reflection of all the hard work and long hours we’ve dedicated to Brockport baseball and I can’t wait to get back on the field and continue that tradition.”
