Bio: Beyer, Scott - Earns 200th Career Coaching Win (2022)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Beyer, O’Leary, Matson, Westfall, Roberts, Healy, Van Abel

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 3/30/2022

Beyer Earns 200th Career Coaching Win (2022)



Neillsville native Scott Beyer’s coaching resume has grown larger, as he celebrated his 200th win as head coach of the UW-Oshkosh Titans women’s fastpitch softball team earlier this month. Submitted photo

By Jesse Heslip

It ‘s been a long road for Neillsville local native and fastpitch softball aficionado Scott Beyer – a road that has taken some of the typical ups and downs you’d expect to see and a couple of paths few have taken along the way.

That road has led to Beyer competing in the sport on an international level and serving as head coach of an NCAA Division III women’s fastpitch softball team, a team which saw him celebrate his 200th win as head coach March 6. This milestone came after a 9-0 five-inning shutout versus The College of St. Scholastica out of Minnesota.

Beyer entered his ninth season as head coach of the UW-Oshkosh Titans with a record of 195-94 and touting three national postseason trips, two regional titles, one Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular championship, one WIAC tournament title and a 2021 NCAA Division III World Series appearance, the school’s first since 1988. Byer’s 0,673 win percentage is the best in UW-Oshkosh history and ranks third among WIAC coaches with at least 200 wins. His biography page on the school’s website has too many accolades to list.

None of it came easy and it all started in the backyard.

From T-Ball to high school baseball, football and wrestling, Beyer has always been an all-around athlete. A ”born and bred” Neillsville kid, Beyer graduated from Neillsville High School in 2,000. The Neillsville sports scene forged the foundation that has led to a laundry list of accomplishments in both his athletic and professional coaching life.

Beyer received his bachelor's degree from UW-Eau Claire in 2006, where he was also a member of the Eau Claire Blugolds and active with the school’s club baseball teams.

From there he played the game he loved with no strings attached, until one day he found himself on an airplane on his way to play with the who’s who of fastpitch softball in a place considered by many to house the best players in the world, New Zealand. Getting to that level requires a burning desire to complete and to be the best and maintaining that state of mind is a skill that requires a lifetime to hone.

The family man and coach has had to learn to tame the fire that burned hot enough to take him to the doorstep of world-class fastpitch softball.

So when questioned about turning down that fire and desire to compete when looking at life through the eyes of a coach, “It wasn’t easy at first,” Beyer said. “It took me some time to figure out that no matter how fired up I got, as a coach I would never pick up a bat during a game.”

Compared to playing the game as an athlete, coaching requires a different skillset, one that Beyer didn’t mind putting in the time to learn.

“I have had a lot of good coaches along the way that have helped develop me as a player. I played for a long time and accomplished quite a bit, but at some point, I started to paly the game so I could have the player’s perspective on what a coach should be,” Beyer said.

Playing baseball in Neillsville as a youth, Beyer has fond memories of coaches and the lessons he has retained from those years.

“The coaches I had growing up and playing sports – guys like John O’Leary, Dave Matson and Brad Westfall, they made it fun. They were players’ coaches. They taught and related to us as individual players.”

As Beyer progressed into coaching, he leaned on those lessons to build himself into that “players’ coach” he remembers. As luck would have it, he has found other mentors along the way.

“I have had a lot of help over the years, far too many people to list, but a couple stand out are Mike Roberts [University of Virginia Cavaliers women’s fastpitch softball pitching coach], Yvette Healy [University of Wisconsin softball head coach] and my wife, she really is my rock,” he said.

Beyer’s wife Laura Van Abel is a storied athlete as well, touting the title of former All-WICA shortstop.

“Laura is a player at heart, so I am really lucky to get to toss ideas and situations off of her and I get a response from the point of view of a player,” Beyer said.

Over the years, Beyer has turned into a successful and winning coach who is proud of the athletes he coaches and what they are able to accomplish.

When questioned about his favorite aspect of the job, he was quick to point out the lifelong positive influence coaching and athletics in general can have on his players as they come and go over the years.

“You know, I’ve been doing this long enough now that I’ve gotten to see students go out and start there own families. I see the success they have in life and sometimes they come back here and tell me that the lessons learned here are a big part of why they succeed in life, and man is that a good feeling,” Beyer stated.

He went on to reinforce that old-school mentality that got him to where he is today and his love of passing it on.

“I really like to be the one that gives that meat and potato, blue-collar advice. We work hard out here and that translates into everything these athletes are doing in life.”