Jason Beverlin

When Jason Beverlin retired from professional baseball and joined the coaching ranks, he didn’t need any time to get to know the Georgia Southern coaching staff. Beverlin joined his collegiate teammates Rodney Hennon and Mike Tidick during summer 2007, and is now in his second year as the Eagles’ pitching coach. Beverlin brings 13 years of professional playing experience to his first full-time collegiate coaching job.

He went to work on retooling a pitching staff decimated by injuries the last couple of years. In the end, he helped develop an All-Southern Conference pick, another selected in the Major League Baseball draft (Blake Nation, 22nd round) and a freshman that led the staff in appearances (Tony Chisman, 28).

Beverlin, a former All-America pitcher at Western Carolina University, was drafted in 1994 by the Oakland As and played professionally until spring 2007.

After one year in the Oakland organization Beverlin was traded to the New York Yankees. He worked his way up from Class A to AAA during his six years in the Yankees organization. Beverlin joined the Anaheim Angels and played in its organization in 2001.

The following year he was a member of the Cleveland Indians where he made his debut in the majors. That same year he moved to his hometown Detroit Tigers and also got the call to the show.

Beverlin made seven career appearances with the Indians and Tigers during the 2002 season. He made four relief appearances for the Indians and started three games for the Tigers.

From 2003-04 he played professionally in Japan for the Yakult Swallows. After sitting out the 2005 season due to Tommy John surgery, Beverlin played in 2006 for the Yokohama Bay Stars.

In spring 2007 he was a member of the Cleveland Indians’ Triple A team before retiring to start his coaching career.

Hennon believes Beverlin’s professional experience and ability to educate benefits the Georgia Southern program.

“I’ve known Jason since our days in college. He is a quality person and was a very successful pitcher at the collegiate level. Jason came in with a tremendous amount of experience at the professional level,” said Hennon. “He has a great feel for the game and the ability to pass along that knowledge to our current pitchers here at Georgia Southern. I think Jason is doing a great job developing the pitchers in our program and will help us attract the best pitching prospects inside the state of Georgia and around the country.”

Beverlin was a three-year letterwinner at Western, joining Hennon and Tidick as key players in the Catamounts’ dominance of the Southern Conference during the early 1990s. Western posted a 51-14 record from 1992-94, winning two regular season championships, one regular season runner-up finish and two conference tournament titles.

Beverlin concluded his three-year career by winning the Southern Conference ‘Pitcher of the Year’ award in 1994. During his three-year career at Western, Beverlin compiled a 27-9 record and 3.79 ERA in 285 innings.

He was 12-2 with a 3.93 ERA his sophomore year, and 11-4 with a 2.39 ERA during his All-American junior season in which he received the SoCon’s top pitching honor.

Beverlin was well respected around the league, having twice earned a spot on the Southern Conference First Team. In 1994 he earned Second Team All-America accolades from Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

The Royal Oak, Michigan, native still ranks among the Catamounts’ all-time record holders. Beverlin is tied for first (12) and third (11) for wins in a season, ranks fourth in winning percentage (.857), tied for sixth in games started (16), ranks second (124.1) and eighth (105.1) in innings pitched along with a first (154) and fifth (106) place standing in season strikeouts. Among the career leaders, Beverlin currently ranks fourth in career wins, second in winning percentage, 16th in ERA (3.79), tied for 10th in starts (40), seventh in innings (285.0) and second in strikeouts (306).

Beverlin still has his name listed in the Southern Conference season record book: tied for second and 12th in wins (12 and 11, respectively), fourth in strikeouts (154 in 1994) and eighth in innings pitched (124.1 in ’94). Among the career leaders Beverlin stands ninth with 306 strikeouts and tied for 11th with 27 victories.

In the fall of 2008 Western Carolina bestowed on Beverlin the highest honor, inducting the former All-America into the Catamounts Athletics Department Hall of Fame.

He and his wife Heather are the parents of two sons, Cole and Lucas.

Category: Baseball

Published on Monday, 16 February 2009 00:14