Beeson, Liu highlight All-OEC baseball team for 2023

Fullerton College outfielder Britton Beeson and Saddleback College pitcher Arthur Liu shared the top honors for the 2023 All-Orange Empire Conference baseball team, as selected by the conference's head coaches at their end-of-season meeting on Monday.

Beeson, a 6'2, 205-pound freshman slugger for the Hornets, was named the 2023 Player of the Year for the OEC. He batted .291 in conference play and led the OEC with eight home runs to go along with 24 RBI, 23 hits and 16 runs scored.

Pitcher of the Year honors went to Liu, a 6-0, 195-pound lefty sophomore for the Bobcats. He went 5-1 in the OEC with a 3.79 ERA, allowing 16 earned runs with 35 strikeouts over 38 innings of work.

In all, eight Saddleback players earned first-team honors, including pitchers Will Girardi and Blake Butcher, first baseman Jake Allen, infielders Mike Davinni, Isaiah Morales and J.P. Hefft and utility player Zach Schwartzberg.

Riverside City College – co-champs of the OEC with Saddleback and the defending state champions – had three players earn first-team honors, including pitcher Albert Roblez and outfielders Casey Murray Jr. and Adrian Arechiga.

Bobcat head coach Sommer McCartney earned OEC Coach of the Year honors for 2023 after leading Saddleback to a 29-10 record and a No. 2 seed at this year's Southern California Regional playoffs, which kicks off this weekend.

In all, SEVEN teams from the 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, Fullerton, 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

Release by Tony Altobelli, OCC SID