IOWA CITY — A familiar, but unexpected name appeared on the Caller ID of his cellphone.
As his phone buzzed, Reece Beuter wasted no time answering the call from Iowa associate head baseball coach Marty Sutherland.
“Coach Sutherland—he called the day of or the day after I entered the portal,” Beuter said. “I was super excited that they were wanting me.”
“I had talked to Iowa a little bit out of Kirkwood when I was getting recruited my sophomore year. So, I had coach Sutherland’s number saved in my phone, so, when I saw it was him that popped on my phone, I was excited to jump on that phone call…I was not expecting it.”
Beuter, a right-handed pitcher for Dallas Baptist from Cedar Falls, entered the transfer portal in June after one season as a member of the Patriots baseball team. The former Dike-New Hartford star and Kirkwood Eagle heard from Iowa quickly after putting his name in the portal.
Beuter announced his commitment to Iowa with two years of eligibility remaining on Tuesday, less than two weeks after entering the portal.
“My main reason for leaving DBU was I wanted to be somewhere closer to home,” Beuter said. “That was my main reason. Be a little bit closer to home, be a bit happier up here. I left DBU wanting to go to Iowa and thankfully they contacted me.”
“I could not be more excited to be a Hawkeye.”
Beuter described the opportunity to play for Iowa, the only Division I program in the state, as a dream come true.
“I grew up wanting to play for the Hawks since they were the only Division I team in the state,” Beuter said. “It has always been a dream of mine. Even though the path of me getting here was not the traditional path…I am very happy that eventually it led here.”
As Beuter alluded to, his path took many turns before ending in Iowa City.
A member of the Dike-New Hartford varsity baseball team from 2016-20, Beuter amassed 229 strikeouts across 155.6 innings-pitched with a 0.85 ERA. He also helped the Wolverines to their first ever state tournament appearance in 2020.
His high school career also included a Class 2A All-State First Team selection in 2020.
In spite of his accolades and prowess on the mound, Beuter’s recruitment stayed quiet in terms of Division I opportunities.
“Out of high school, [I] did not really have Division I offers,” Beuter said. “So, I decided to go the JUCO route. I thought Kirkwood was the best option. I really enjoy playing for Coach [Todd] Rima and Anthony Caenepeel. Those guys were great.”
Beuter’s time at Kirkwood started off shaky as he surrendered 10 earned runs to 10 strikeouts in his first two starts, pitching 7.2 innings in those two appearances. But, he settled in and allowed just 19 runs across his final 11 starts, throwing 53.2 innings and recording 69 strikeouts.
However, in his final appearance, Beuter’s path hit another bump.
“At the end of my freshman year at Kirkwood—actually my last start—I tore up my elbow,” Beuter said. “So, I had [Tommy John Surgery] in June of that year.”
Looking back on the injury, Beuter said he was initially concerned and did not know what to expect from rehab and recruiting.
“It is definitely concerning when you have to have Tommy John,” Beuter said. “I ended up having a complete tear, so I knew I needed to have full Tommy John. So—yeah—I was little concerned what the future might bring recruiting-wise.”
“But, Tommy John is fairly common nowadays. So, I knew it would not be a massive deal. After talking it over with the coaches [at Kirkwood], we felt pretty certain that with the freshman campaign that I had I would be able to move on after my sophomore year.”
Beuter’s recruitment picked up in the fall of 2021—his sophomore season at Kirkwood—when he decided to attend Dallas Baptist after two seasons with the Eagles.
In one season with the Patriots, Beuter said he started off strong through the first six to seven weeks of the season before hitting a wall in towards the middle of the schedule. In total, he threw 16.2 innings in relief, recording 15 strikeouts and allowing nine earned runs. He also appeared in a NCAA Regional win over Oklahoma State for DBU.
From both of his stops, Beuter said he brings a depth of experience with him to Iowa.
“I am giving them some experience in multiple roles,” Beuter said. “I was a starter at Kirkwood and then I was out of the bullpen at DBU, so I feel like I bring a variety of what I can do. That is one my biggest strengths.”