MUSCATINE — The transition will be bittersweet for Scott Beatty.
But the Muscatine Community College softball coach is looking forward to his next step as the new baseball head coach at Davenport West next summer.
Beatty said he had his eye on the job posting in mid-July but didn’t really pursue the opportunity until he learned that MCC will cut its baseball and softball programs after the 2016 season. He will finish the upcoming season with the Cardinals, his 19th and final season with Cardinals softball.
“I wish it wouldn’t have happened this way,” Beatty said. “There’s nothing you can do but move on to build great relationships with kids and a community and give them a good product they can be proud of.”
Before taking the MCC softball job, Beatty, a 1987 Muscatine graduate and all-state pitcher for the Muskies, was an assistant for the North Scott baseball program under John Charles for five seasons. In a turn of roles, Charles will now be one of Beatty’s assistants with the Falcons.
Beatty has amassed an 842-246 record with the Cardinals, taking the team to the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2005.
“Nineteen years at the college level and softball program taught me a lot about myself and different ways to approach the game and different ways of teaching and being able to help kids develop,” Beatty said. ” … That’s one of the ways I can bring that college-level approach [to West], … understanding recruiting and developing what college coaches are looking for.”
Beatty will inherit a team that went 13-17 last season, including an 8-10 mark in the Mississippi Athletic Conference, and is two seasons removed from a MAC title in 2014, which was the first in 27 years.
He sees plenty of potential in the young players on the team, including sophomore and University of Iowa commit Clayton Nettleton.
“Taking over a large-school 4A baseball program is something that’s going to be nice,” Beatty said. “What we want to do with the kids, No. 1, is build relationships with the kids and then be able to build the young talent to be varsity ready when it’s time for them to come up.
“I’m excited for the opportunity and I’m looking forward to this summer and being able to transition into baseball again.”
