DII Report ™️: DII baseball player-of-the-year profile, Mikey Scott, Florida Southern
Get to know the Mocs' speedster that has been instrumental in their turnaround.
The DII baseball championship is quickly approaching. Today, let’s continue our look at potential player-of-the-year candidates. Before we get to Mikey Scott, make sure you get caught up on past profiles:
Florida Southern is one of the winningest programs in DII baseball history. It is tied with Tampa for the most titles in DII history (nine), but it has been a long time since the Mocs have won. They pulled a major SSC coup this year getting veteran head coach Rick O’Dette to come over from Saint Leo. As of this writing (April 28), the Mocs have improved from an 18-30 team last year to 32-12 with two weekends left on the schedule.
One of the players O’Dette brought with him was Mikey Scott. And the Mocs are grateful.
Mikey Scott by the numbers
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Scott is doing well. He has been a steady force since his debut with the Lions. He is a big-time speed guy, but this year, it seems he is doing everything very well. During his three years at Saint Leo, he slashed .346/.406/.524 with 44 stolen bases. Though his best season was arguably his 2023 campaign, Scott earned All-SSC First Team honors last year.
Scott 2025 (through 4/28)
Vitals: 6-foot-1; 200 pounds; outfielder, right-handed hitter and thrower; compact swing, quick through the zone and can turn on the ball quickly; speed makes him a valuable asset in the outfield with the ability to close gaps quickly.
Stats: .383 batting average * 1.071 OPS * 59 runs scored (career high and leads SSC) * 8 doubles * 8 home runs (tied career high) * 31:24 K:BB ratio * 43-for-52 in stolen bases (career high, third in SSC)
Mikey Scott in his own words
Wayne Cavadi: Let's talk a little bit about before this year. I assume I know why you're at Florida Southern, but what made you come on over?
Mikey Scott: Yeah, once OD [Rick O’Dette] got the job over here, I entered the transfer portal — and I did speak to numerous teams. I think the biggest thing that it came down to was being able to play every day for coaches who really trusted in me, and they proved that they trusted me in the last three years that I was at Saint Leo. Not only OD but our hitting coach and our other assistant coach — they really trusted in who I was as a player and as a leader.
Secondly, I knew that I wanted to go somewhere where I could have a chance to compete for a national championship. I know what this coaching staff could bring. I know what they want, and their goal is to win, not in the next four or five years, but it's to win right now. It's probably my last year of college baseball. I want that. They proved that to me with the guys that were brought in and the culture they were going to continue to bring. That had a huge impact on me coming here to Florida Southern.
WC: You mentioned they want to win now. I think coach told me there were 11 to 12 transfers that were going to play significant roles when I spoke to him in the preseason. How do you think you guys gelled so quickly and are competing this year with so many new faces?
MS: I think the biggest thing was our new guys, our transfers, bought in very soon, and so did the guys who returned. At first, the toughest thing was the returners being like, ‘Okay, who are these new guys? Who's this new coaching staff? What are they going to do?’
They had a lot of questions, but within the first month, these guys bought in so fast. They bought into everything, whether it's how hard we work in the weight room or how much time we spend together as a group. I think the culture here at Florida Southern has changed tremendously in a positive way. These guys are loving it, and we are just keeping it going. I think that's the base — these guys just buying into all of it.
WC: When you guys played Saint Leo, you had to go there, back to your old turf. What was that like?
MS: Man, that was probably one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had in college baseball. I was at that school for three years, and I'm sitting in the other dugout now, and I'm just like, ‘What is going on?’
My first couple of bats in the game, I just didn't feel like I was there. It was very awkward, but I had to lock in. But yeah, that was a very interesting weekend. I got to play against some guys that I played with for three years at Saint Leo. So that was really cool. But I'm just glad we were able to win the series.
WC: Now I know speed is a big part of your game, but you're also a big on-base percentage guy. I’d like to talk a little bit before we get to the speed about your approach at the plate and why you've been so successful.
MS: I think the biggest thing is just finding ways to get on. I trust the guys behind me, whether it's Noah Rabin or Grant Thoroman. I know if I get on base, these guys are going to score me. I think my approach at the plate has been to just look for a pitch, drive the ball to right center field, and if the guy decides to go in on you, turn on it and make him pay. I always believe that nothing can beat me. No pitch can beat me mentally in my head. Just having that approach and sticking to it —I think that's been part of the reason why not only me, but a lot of the other guys on the team have bought into that approach themselves, and it's been paying off pretty well.
WC: Let's talk a little bit about numbers because when people vote on these awards, they look at the numbers, not necessarily the overall player. You've already been a great player for three years, right? Now you're setting career highs in batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases, and triples. You've matched your career high in home runs, and you just need two more doubles to set a new career high there. What has been the difference this year for you, especially finding some more extra-base pop, which was not generally your game?
MS: You see a lot of guys in this conference who get overlooked in that aspect; they are great ball players, and they don't really hit for power. They don't really hit for extra-base hits or hit for home runs. I think that was a part of my game that me and my hitting coach here, Tony Caldwell, just expanded on from the jump after last year. We stuck to it, got stronger in the weight room, got stronger on the field, got faster, and it's been paying off completely, and being able to help our team in that aspect in big-time situations.
WC: That makes sense. Let's talk about that speed. Do you like to play around, use it as a weapon, and toy with opposing pitchers because you could definitely use it to your advantage?
MS: Absolutely. What pitcher likes to have a guy on base who can go from station to station? What this offense has been able to do is that we've been able to just keep pitchers off balance, just worrying more about us than the hitter (side note: the Mocs have THREE players with 40-plus stolen bases). And then eventually, they leave something over the plate for our guys to hit.
I think we've built this confidence now on the bags. Once we get on first, we're going to end up on third in the next three plays. And it has brought confidence to the guys swinging at the plate because they know they're going to get an RBI opportunity to help the team win. At the same time, we trust that we're going to get to each station safely. And it's been tremendous because I've never been a part of a team that's been able to steal bags like this. We've just completely trusted it, and it's been paying off, and we just got to keep it going.
WC: Yeah, it is kind of insane to watch. What role do metrics play in your training and preparation? Do you still watch a lot of video?
MS: Yeah. We watch film weekly on guys and on pitchers we are about a face. Then on top of it, I do watch myself. I watch a lot of my swings throughout the week — the things that I could get better on, things that I've been successful on, and just trying to continue that. I think the biggest thing going into a weekend series is knowing the pitcher we're about to face — knowing his strengths, knowing his weaknesses, knowing what his out pitch is when he's ahead in two strikes. I think that advantage has helped me, helped our team a lot. Just being prepared.
In college baseball, you have to be prepared in every situation. If you're not, you just get surprised. We haven't been surprised much because of our preparation. That part with the metrics has been huge to our offense. Not only to our offense but to our pitching staff because I know they watch film on hitters every week.
WC: What player or players do you model your game after?
MS: I love Mookie Betts. He's not a big guy, and he can hit for power. He moves well. He loves to have fun with the game. I've been watching him for years. It's funny because growing up, I have always been a Yankee fan, but he was the only guy on the Red Sox that I'd be like, ‘Man, I want this guy to do well.’ Great all-around play, a utility guy. So that's my guy for sure.
WC: I'm a Yankees fan. Did you grow up there?
MS: No, I'm actually from Miami, Florida. But my dad, he was raised in in New York, and he just brought me up on the history of Yankees baseball. Whenever we had a chance, we would fly up to New York to go watch a game a couple of times. So I've just been a fan my whole entire life.
WC: Well, he did a great job raising you. What's next for you? Are there pro dreams? What do you hope the next step is for you?
MS: Yes, absolutely. I think for how long I've been playing this game, it would be crazy not to have those pro dreams. I would love for that opportunity to come. I'm also at that point in my life that if that opportunity does not come, I'll be totally fine. I know God has a plan for me in whatever aspect he does. But I'm super curious as to where that would take me. I'd be super ecstatic with that opportunity to come. So, yeah, that's a huge dream for me, and it would be amazing.