Everyone in the region and most across the state knew about Beechwood High School senior Cameron Boyd’s bat.
But what was met with marked improvement in his senior season was his glove in right field. Boyd transitioned to the outfield in his sophomore year and with anything that comes new, an adjustment period was needed.
After playing in the infield, his arm strength needed to be built up and over time it got there. As Boyd continued to terrorize pitching across the region that had him ending up with the state lead in homeruns by seasons end, his glove continued to get better.
College coaches took note. Plenty wondered by April why Boyd hadn’t committed anywhere yet, but his patience paid off as he committed to University of Southern Indiana on May 3.
“I just didn’t have the arm strength at first. We had a ton of infielders at the time and I had an infield arm and just did as much as I could to strengthen it. Do as much as I can and get my footwork down and that helped land me a spot as a potential outfielder,” Boyd said.
Boyd’s development into a five-tool player has got him to this point.
His presence at the plate should help him transition pretty smoothly to the next level.
On top of the power, he makes contact and carries the speed needed to get around the bases. He hit .508 and struck out 16 times in just 126 official at-bats with 15 walks. His stolen base rate was 100%, swiping the bag on all 30 attempts in 2023.
“When you got guys like that it makes things a lot easier,” Tigers coach Kevin Gray said. “
Beechwood’s fielding in the 2023 season only had 25 unearned runs allowed in 36 games.
“Our motto is don’t beat ourselves,” Gray added.
And they didn’t. Boyd and a sure-handed outfield with Tyler Fryman in center and Nazario Pangallo in left helping the cause.
Boyd’s power surge at the plate was equally impressive considering it took him about 10 games to really get going coming off of basketball season.
“Just had to settle myself in. Beginning of the year I was amped up coming straight out of basketball season into baseball. Just refocused, focused on the ball and watched it all the way in,” Boyd said.
He finished out his hoops career as the third leading scorer in program history with 1,425 points. Then he hit 12 homeruns over his last 28 games of the season. He closed out his career with 28 homeruns.