Scott Berry (born July 20, 1962) is an American
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
coach and former
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
, who is the current head baseball coach of the
Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
He played
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...
at
Crowder College
Crowder College is a public community college in Neosho, Missouri. It serves the Community College District of Newton and McDonald counties in southwestern Missouri and other outlying areas. The school enrolled 4,398 in 2019.
Established in 1963 ...
from 1983 to 1984. He then served as the head coach of the
Meridian Eagles (1997–2000).
Playing career
Berry played two years at
Crowder College
Crowder College is a public community college in Neosho, Missouri. It serves the Community College District of Newton and McDonald counties in southwestern Missouri and other outlying areas. The school enrolled 4,398 in 2019.
Established in 1963 ...
, a junior college in Missouri. After two all-region seasons as a catcher, he was forced to give up baseball due to back issues. He transferred to
Southwest Missouri State
Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...
where he completed his degree and became a student assistant coach.
Coaching career
In 1991, Berry was named an assistant at
Meridian Community College
Meridian Community College is a public community college in Meridian, Mississippi. Founded in 1937, it was originally named Meridian Junior College but changed its name in 1987.
History
Founded in 1937 as the "13th" and "14th" grades at Meri ...
, serving under
Corky Palmer who would precede him at Southern Miss. After six seasons as an assistant, which included Meridian’s first-ever JUCO World Series appearance in 1993 in Grand Junction, Colorado, Berry became head coach at Meridian, where he remained for four seasons, earning numerous coach of the year awards. His teams were ranked in the top 10 all four years he was at the helm, and placed 25 players at
Division I schools and coached nine future professional players.
Berry then rejoined Palmer with the Golden Eagles, accepting an assistant coaching position at Southern Miss. Berry worked in a number of roles, including hitting coach, pitching coach, and associate head coach prior to becoming head coach in 2010. While a hitting coach, the Golden Eagles hit over .300 as a team after batting .279 the previous season, with seven players batting over .300. As a pitching coach, USM posted the lowest ERA in Conference USA and produced four players who earned seven
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
awards, including one in four consecutive years. In 2009, the Golden Eagles made their first trip to the
College World Series after defeating
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
in
Gainesville in the
super regional round.
Berry ran USM's streak of NCAA appearances to nine with trips in 2010 and 2011, including a
2010 Conference USA baseball tournament title and a share of the 2011 regular season conference title.
Head coaching record
Below is a table of Berry's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.
See also
*
List of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches
The following is a list of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches. Currently, 297 programs compete at the Division I level in NCAA college baseball. Each program employs a head coach. The longest-tenured head coach is Tony Rossi, who has been ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Scott
Living people
People from Neosho, Missouri
Crowder Roughriders baseball players
Missouri State Bears baseball coaches
Missouri State University alumni
Meridian Eagles baseball coaches
Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball coaches
Place of birth missing (living people)
1962 births
Baseball coaches from Missouri