A Beechwood and a pair of Covington Catholic baseball standouts will continue their college baseball careers closer to home.
Covington Catholic grads Jonathan Fitz and Charlie Dieruf are transferring to Xavier and Cincinnati, respectively, while Beechwood grad Cameron Boyd is transferring to Ohio University.
Boyd is a 2023 grad and played his first two college seasons at University of Southern Indiana. His sophomore season with the Eagles was nothing short of eye-popping. He finished the year on a 21-game hitting streak, tying a program record set in 2018. He batted .306 with six home runs and 36 RBI. His efforts earned him OVC Player of the Week in a week where he went 14-for-24 at the plate with eight runs scored, three home runs and 12 RBI. He also recorded eight doubles and scored 39 runs, starting 44 games in the outfield. Boyd started 26 games as a freshman and hit .286 in OVC play with a home run and five RBI. Boyd was a key piece in Beechwood’s four straight region titles, where he was first-team All-State, NKAC Division II Most Valuable Player, and 9th Region Player of the Year after batting .546 with 49 RBI and 11 home runs as a senior.Â
Fitz graduated from CovCath in 2023 and played his first two collegiate seasons at the University of San Diego. In his freshman season with the Toreros, he appeared in 10 games and hit .267 in 15 at-bats with a double, triple and RBI. Fitz is a catcher and had a perfect fielding percentage with 28 putouts and two assists without making an error. He appeared in 22 games and made 10 starts in his sophomore campaign, hitting .150 in 40 at-bats. Fitz recorded six hits, one of them a home run with three runs scored and three RBI. He walked six times and struck out 17 times. He had 36 putouts at catcher with six assists and two errors for a .955 fielding percentage. He caught one runner stealing. Fitz’s senior season at CovCath came with a .511 batting average in which he collected 19 doubles and six home runs. He was the team’s MVP and earned First Team All-State honors. He also won the 2023 Kentucky Johnny Bench Award, and was named the NKAC Division I Player of the Year.
Dieruf graduated in 2024 and played his freshman season at Miami (Ohio) University. He pitched 24.1 innings in his freshman year with the Redhawks, posting a 5.92 ERA. In 10 of his 16 appearances, he didn’t allow a run. Dieruf struck out 17 batters and walked just four in his work on the bump. He allowed 24 hits and 16 earned runs. During his senior season with the Colonels, he scored 42 runs in 109 at-bats. Dieruf joins former Colonels teammate Jackson Reardon on the Bearcats roster. Reardon will be an incoming freshman.