Alan Betourne’s work in just three short years to return the Monmouth College baseball program into a national contender didn’t go unnoticed by the American Baseball Coaches’ Association, which this week named him the ABCA/Diamond Sports Central Region Coach of the Year.
“It’s quite an honor to be recognized by your peers, but it’s really more about the team than just one coach,” said a humble Betourne. “It’s really about Monmouth baseball and getting back to where we need to be. We’ve had a great group of players and coaches for the past three years to help us with recruiting and building a good foundation.”
Picked in the Midwest Conference preseason coaches’ poll to finish third in the league’s South Division, Betourne’s team beat the odds and most of the opposition, rolling to a school-record win total en route to a 29-14-1 record. The Scots claimed the Midwest Conference South Division title with a 14-6 campaign to advance to the conference tournament where they were unbeaten, earning their first league crown and automatic NCAA tournament berth since 2002.
Betourne enters his fourth season in 2019 with a 63-50-1 career record, surpassing even his own expectations.
“Honestly, I hadn’t given the records a thought,” said Betourne, downplaying the rapid rise. “When I started three years ago, the main goal was just to get the conference tournament and build on that. I thought we might be in that position in Year 4 or 5, not Year 3. Our challenge now is to keep it going.”
The Regional Coaches of the Year are eligible for ABCA/Diamond National Coach of the Year honors in their respective divisions, which will be announced on July 3. The Coaches of the Year will be honored on the main stage of the clinic hall prior to the start of clinics at the 75th annual ABCA Convention, which will be held Jan. 3-6, 2019, in Dallas.
