OEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR - BRITTON BEESON

The Orange Empire Conference baseball coaches unanimously selected Fullerton College freshman Britton Beeson as OEC the Player of the Year.

Beeson wasn't the only FC player to earn All-OEC honors as Matt Romero and Tank Espalin were 2nd Team selections.

A freshman left-handed pitcher, Matt Romero was 5-3 on the season with a 3.78 ERA and 1 complete game. He had 24 strikeouts and 12 walks in 64.1 innings.

An athletic freshman playing first base, Tank Espalin was second on the team with 46 hits. He has 7 doubles and a home run with 26 RBI. Tank leads the team in runs scored with 41.

A big, fast, and athletic centerfielder, Britton Beeson led the conference in RBI with 59. He finished the regular season with 11 home runs (tied for the OEC lead). Beeson batted .331, had 54 hits, 35 runs, and 16 doubles (3rd OEC). 

The last FC baller to earn OEC Player of the Year was Dakota Wix (Cal State Fullerton) in 2013.

Up Next: The No. 13 Hornets will travel to No. 12 Chaffey College this Friday, May 5th for the 1st Round of the SoCal Regional Playoffs. Game time is at 2:00 pm. Game 2 will be on Saturday at 11:00 am. Game 3 (if needed) will follow soon after.

In all, seven out of eight teams from the very competitive Orange Empire Conference earned a spot in the 24-team regional playoffs.

2023 ALL-ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE TEAM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Britton Beeson, Fullerton
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Arthur Liu, Saddleback
COACH OF THE YEAR: Sommer McCartney, Saddleback

FIRST TEAM

PITCHERS
Arthur Liu, Saddleback, 6-0, 195, So
M.J. Gabaldon, Orange Coast, 6'0, 200, Fr
Will Girardi, Saddleback, 6'1, 200, So
Lyndon Glidewell, Orange Coast, 6'4, 190, Fr
Blake Butcher, Saddleback, 6'0, 185, So
Josh Landry, Cypress, 6'6, 175, So
Albert Roblez, Riverside, 6'1, 190, So

CATCHER
Ayden Garcia, Golden West, 5'10, 190, Fr 

FIRST BASEMAN
J.C. Allen, Saddleback, 6'3, 195, Fr

INFIELDERS
Mike Davinni, Saddleback, 6'0, 200, So
Isaiah Morales, Saddleback, 6'1, 190, So
J.P. Hefft, Saddleback, 5'10, 195, So
Austin Haller, Santa Ana, 5'11, 185, So
Alec Gomez, Orange Coast, 6'0, 185, So
 
OUTFIELDERS
Britton Beeson, Fullerton, 6'2, 205, Fr
Luke Honikel, Cypress, 6'0, 195, So
Dean Toigo, Cypress, 6'3, 200, So
Christian Thompson, Santa Ana, 5'11, 195, So
Casey Murray Jr., Riverside, 6'2, 190, So
Adrian Arechiga, Riverside, 6'0, 190, So

DESIGNATED HITTER
Troy Kent, Santa Ana, 6'0, 185, So

UTILITY
Zach Schwartzberg, Saddleback, 5'10, 175, So 

SECOND TEAM

PITCHERS
Joey Iglesias, Santa Ana, 5'10, 170, Fr
J.D. Rodriguez, Golden West, 6'4, 220, Fr
Johnnie Valdez, Golden West, 6'2, 170, So
Tyler Burns, Saddleback, 6'0, 170, So
Dylan Blakey, Saddleback, 6'1, 205, Fr
Matthew Romero, Fullerton, 6'0, 185, Fr

CATCHER
Anthony Gibbons, Riverside, 5'10, 175, So

FIRST BASEMEN
Aaron Perez, Cypress, 6'2, 215, Fr
Tank Espalin, Fullerton, 6'1, 190, So 

INFIELDERS
Preston Allen, Golden West, 6'2, 185, Fr
Mikey Rocha, Santa Ana, 6'0, 195, Fr
Ethan Brand, Orange Coast, 5'10, 170, Fr
Isaac Rodriguez, Cypress, 5'10, 185, So
Sebastian Flores, Riverside, 5'11, 180, So
Nick Madole, Irvine Valley, 5'11, 180, So