By Taylor Nigrelli
Steven Beckham accomplished quite a bit in his first season with the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The righty pitcher from Mount Vernon, Illinois led the Niagara Power to the championship series where they eventually fell to Syracuse. He was 4-0 on the season with a 1.84 ERA and 44 strikeouts to only 17 walks; Beckham was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year for the effort.
But coming into the 2013 season, Beckham isn’t at all focused on topping or even repeating these accomplishments. He has much different goals in mind.
“The main thing I’m focused on is becoming a better leader on and off the field,” Beckham said. “I want to be a Christian. On the field, I want to be looked at as a hard worker.”
Beckham’s priorities come as no surprise to Niagara coach Josh Rebandt or his college coach at Olivet Nazarene, Todd Reid. Both coaches praise Beckham as a leader and point to his mental make-up as the attribute that best defines him.
“There are a couple different things that make him the pitcher that he is,” Reid said. “The first is his (mental) make-up. If you come and watch Steven pitch, you wouldn’t be able to tell if he’s throwing a no-hitter or had just given up a three-run inning. If you had a young pitcher, Steven is exactly who you’d want them to model themselves after.”
Rebandt knows all about Beckham’s mental make-up and ability to overcome adversity. He was Niagara’s pitching coach last year when Beckham overcame an arm injury suffered in his first start and rolled through the hitters of the NYCBL all without changing demeanor.
“He’s a gamer,” Rebandt said. “He’s a guy you can give the ball to in the first and you’ll see him again in the seventh or eighth inning. I think it’s his mental make-up that helps him do this. He’s very focused, he’s a calm guy. He doesn’t get high, he doesn’t get low.”
Beckham’s focus and demeanor are vitally important in every game he pitches. He relies heavily on the movement of his pitches as he isn’t a flamethrower by any means. Rebandt estimates that even his two-seam fastball only travels in the low-80’s. It’s his slider that fools so many batters. Beckham refers to this as his “out” pitch and said he can throw it under any circumstances. His coach believes Beckham’s lack of velocity has allowed him to develop into a more mature pitcher.
“He’s a guy that pitches; he doesn’t just go out and throw the ball,” Rebandt said. “He’s a guy that knows how to pitch. I think that’s what made him like this; he’s had to work on those other pitches.”
The trouble with throwing these types of pitches so frequently is they are often associated with lingering arm injuries. After suffering a minor arm injury early last summer, Beckham struggled with injuries for Olivet Nazarene throughout this season. Because of this, Reid is considering putting Beckham on pitch limits this summer.
“The way he pitches; it’s obviously not a natural motion,” Reid said. “So there’s a possibility we’re going to put him on some pitch limits this summer. We may talk through some things with (Niagara Owner) Cal Kern and Coach Rebandt just about making sure we keep him healthy and make sure that he’s able to contribute for both Niagara and Olivet.”
Beckham also cited staying healthy as one of his goals for the summer. He claims he went into his fall workouts this year in the best shape he ever had because of playing in the NYCBL and would like to repeat that this year.
Although he’s more concerned with becoming a better leader and person, Beckham does have one pitching-related goal this summer that could make him even more unhittable than he was last year: he wants to unveil a new pitch.
“It’s called the flicky,” Beckham said. “I’ve kind of messed around with it playing catch for the last couple years. It’s a good looking pitch; it’s just not something I’m comfortable enough to throw in a game yet.”
Beckham explained the pitch as a knuckleball with a flick of the wrist at the end of it. The intended result is for the ball to drop like a 12-to-six curveball.
Beckham won’t throw the pitch without his coach’s permission, of course. What else would you expect from a player who places improvement in leadership over any individual accolades?
Beckham and the Power will begin their season on the road, at Hornell Thursday June 6 at 7 p.m.
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