Campbell County High School baseball coach Scott Schweitzer was the Shohei Ohtani of his day when he played ball in college. As a senior at Kentucky Wesleyan, he was an All-Great Lakes Valley Conference pick at two positions: designated hitter and pitcher.
But Schweitzer never really saw himself as a hall-of-famer.
The 6-foot-2 two-way talent starred on the mound and at the plate when he played at Campbell County. After college, he was good enough to be a Major League Baseball draft pick as a pitcher. The left-hander hurled parts of four seasons in the minor leagues, while advancing to the upper reaches of Single-A, before retiring as a player and transitioning into coaching.
Schweitzer never considered those accomplishments hall-of-fame worthy.
But 10th Region historians see it differently. Schweitzer is one of 10 original members of the 10th Region Baseball Hall of Fame’s inaugural class.
“I found out via email,” said Schweitzer, who turned 45 in May. “And to be honest, I was quite surprised and honored.”
Schweitzer was born in Fort Thomas and raised in Alexandria. The 1998 Campbell County graduate excelled as an all-state baseball player before moving on to the college and professional ranks. Twelve years after graduating from Campbell County, he returned as head baseball coach and special education teacher. He’s also involved in the school’s Behavior Intervention Program.
Schweitzer has led the Camels for 16 seasons, winning more than 300 games and four 10th Region championships. His squad came within a whisker of winning the 2016 state title. He’s especially proud of an inclusion baseball-game series he started this year involving his special education students and his Camels ballplayers.
Despite his track record, Schweitzer hadn’t seriously considered himself a candidate for a hall of fame honor.
“Being in the first class and with the number of big leaguers and legendary coaches from the 10th Region, I didn’t think that was in the cards,” he said.
But Schweitzer was with the Cardinals, and that counts for something.
According to his hall of fame biography, Schweitzer began playing college baseball at Aquinas College. He then moved to Kentucky Wesleyan. There he earned Great Lakes Valley Conference first-team honors as a pitcher, designated hitter and first baseman.
Schweitzer was a 2002 MLB Amateur Draft 18th-round choice by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was taken one round behind future major leaguers Brandon McCarthy and Russell Martin and five rounds ahead of future big leaguers Jacoby Ellsbury and Nick Markakis.
Schweitzer went on to pitch 84 minor league innings, all as a reliever, with a 4.07 ERA. He had a sub-3.00 ERA in two seasons. He allowed just one home run in 80 appearances, a line-drive shot that barely cleared an eight-foot fence.
Since taking over as head baseball coach at Campbell County in 2010, Schweitzer has guided the Camels to seven 37th District championships. He added four 10th Region titles and a 2016 state runner-up finish with a 1-0 loss to Louisville St. Xavier in the championship game.
When the Camels run-ruled two-time defending champion Scott, 10-0 in five innings in the 2016 10th Region final, it was their first regional title in 27 years. They went on to win three more in five years (2018, 2021, 2022).
Campbell County finished 25-11 this past season and won yet another 37th District crown. It was the Camels’ 10th consecutive season with at least 20 wins. They have won 20 straight games against 37th District competition dating back to 2021.
Schweitzer began to hear his coaching calling as a college player. He put up especially impressive numbers his senior season at Kentucky Wesleyan in 2002. Schweitzer batted .295 and drove in 15 runs with six doubles and three home runs while starting 39 of 41 games. He was also good at passing along knowledge to teammates.
On the mound that season, Schweitzer pitched three shutouts en route to a 5-4 record with a 93-m.p.h. fastball. He added a save in 11 appearances, 10 of them starts, with a 2.66 ERA. He struck out 68 batters in 61 innings pitched for Kentucky Wesleyan, a 22-23 finisher under first-year head coach Todd Lillpop. The 22 wins were the most by a first-year head coach in KWC baseball history.
Schweitzer was a big part of that history. Now, he’ll go down in 10th Region lore.
“This is the first hall of fame that I’ve been inducted to,” said Schweitzer, one of just 10 Kentucky Wesleyan MLB signees since 1962.
It’s not the first time he will be celebrated. Schweitzer is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Wednesday’s Reds home game against the Twins. He’s being honored for winning his 300th career game this year at Campbell County. Schweitzer was honored this season as 10th Region baseball coach of the year, an award he’s won multiple times. His ballplayers swear by him, and he’s No. 1 in the hearts of a lot of people.
Others voted in by 10th Region baseball coaches and media members include former MLB pitcher Woodie Fryman (Fleming County). There’s also Nate Jones (Pendleton County) as well as record-setting coach Mac Whitaker (Harrison County).
Fryman pitched for the Reds in 1977. Jones, an NKU Athletics Hall of Fame member, played for the Reds in 2020. Jones now coaches Pendleton County High School baseball.
Whitaker, father of former NKU women’s basketball coach Camryn Whitaker, has a state-record 1,266 career wins, according to his hall of fame bio. In 47 seasons, he has won 40 district titles, 22 regional championships and four state crowns.
Here are the rest of the 10th Region baseball greats heading for enshrinement.
Billy K. Anderson (Nicholas County)
Cary Barr (Paris)
Matt Ginter (George Rogers Clark)
Dion Newby (Harrison County)
Travis Sims (Nicholas County)
Shon Walker (Harrison County)