A former standout player at the University of West Florida, Brandon Brewer joined the Stetson baseball coaching staff for the 2017 season as the Hatters' volunteer assistant coach. He works with the Stetson infielders and hitters and also coaches first base.
A native of Apopka, Fla., Brewer batted .390 during his senior season at West Florida while leading the Argonauts to a Division II national championship. He started all 61 games that season for UWF at shortstop, scoring 55 runs while driving in 36. He also proved to be a threat on the base paths, successfully stealing 20 bags in 25 attempts.
He was selected as an All-Region (D2CCA, ABCA & NCBWA) player in 2011 and was a second team All-American (NCBWA and Daktronics). He was twice selected as a Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner (2009 & 11)
As a junior in 2010, Brewer hit .289 while starting all 56 games for the Argos. He scored 50 runs that year with 34 driven in while stealing 17 bases on 22 attempts.
Over his four seasons at West Florida, Brewer hit .316 while starting 224 of the 225 games he played in. He scored 179 runs in his career and drove in another 122 while stealing 58 bases. He ranks in the UWF career top 10 for hits, runs, RBI, total bases, stolen bases, walks and assists.
Following his senior season he was drafted in the 36th round (1,095th overall) of the MLB Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Angels. He played two seasons in the minor leagues, one in Orem, Utah, in rookie ball in one in Class A Inland Empire.
Prior to his exploits at UWF and in minor league baseball, Brewer led his Apopka Little League team to Williamsport, Pa., and the Little League World Series in 2001. Overshadowed there by the controversy swirling around the eligibility of a player from Chicago, the Apopka team overcame all the obstacles to capture the U.S. Championship. That team lost in the World Series finale to Japan, but staked its claim as the best in the United States.
Brewer played on that Little League championship team for his father, Bobby Brewer, who currently serves as the head coach at Ocoee High School. The elder Brewer grew up and played at Apopka High School in the early 1970s, where his high school coach was none other than Hatters Hall of Fame Coach Pete Dunn.
He was not the only high-achieving player in his family. His sister, Danielle, played softball at UCF and currently serves as an assistant softball coach at Shorter University in Georgia. Another sister, Cassady, is a junior at UCF where she plays second base for the Knights. She was selected as the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 2016.
Brewer also has a step-brother, Jared Neal, who plays baseball at Lake Sumter College. He was the Cy Young Award winner for the Florida Collegiate League this past summer.
