Class of 2024 graduates Harrison and Jackson Beach may be fraternal twins, but they’ve enjoyed a lifetime of identical moments.
The Oak Hall School (OHS) alums both played soccer at the age of three, but the rest is history.
“We started playing YMCA soccer when we were three, but hated it,” Jackson said. “Then we got into baseball and basketball when we were four, and obviously stuck with both.”
They’ve been on the same teams their whole life, aside from one year when Harrison wanted to try football and Jackson didn’t.
“We have never actually been on different teams before,” Jackson said. “Because of this, we would always take advantage when we had the opportunity to play against each other in a practice or camp. We were always competitive, and it was weird playing against each other in those situations.”
That competitive nature started at an early age.
“We are very competitive, and always have been,” Harrison said. “It makes everything more fun. Even just a game of mini basketball gets competitive because we can’t let the other win.”
Harrison said there wasn’t any specific reason that they started playing sports.
“Our parents just wanted us to play as many sports as possible as a kid,” he said.
Their mom, Kim, and dad, Brian, grew up in Sarasota, and both graduated from UF (undergraduate business, MBA).
They were working in the business world when Brian had a unique opportunity to come back to Gainesville to serve as chief of staff to then UF president Bernie Machen and then as SVP of the administration at UF.
The Beaches were in Gainesville from 2004-2011, so the twins were born at Shands/UF Health.
However, a new opportunity took them to Houston, and they moved to a suburb (Katy, Texas).
Brian said it was there that the twins, and older brother, Connor (by two years), got to experience great schools and phenomenal athletics, “so all three boys grew up around intense, well-organized youth sports and played with some really good athletes.”
They spent nearly 10 years in Texas and moved back to Gainesville four years ago.
The Beach household is dominated by sports, from the organized sports that they play and the games that they make up around the house, plus weekends of college and NFL football, especially all Gator sports.
“The five of us are very close, and a significant amount of our time together has been somehow connected to sports,” Brian said. “We have always, though, prioritized academics and all three worked hard to try to excel in the classroom.”
From travel baseball and AAU basketball throughout their youth, the elder Beaches had their own challenges.
“As Kim and I look back, we sometimes wonder how we did it,” Brian said. “All credit goes to Kim, as she shuttled all three boys to practices, hitting or shooting lessons, school-related activities, and time with their friends. Connor also played travel baseball and AAU basketball. All three somehow squeezed in a little football and golf for some of those years.”
Brian traveled extensively for work so Kim “kept all of us on schedule and organized, and we somehow made it through it all, including the weather delays and early morning starts.”
The real test was making it through the occasional weekend with tournaments for both sports, but as they got older and started driving to practices and games, it gave Kim some time to focus again on her career.
Time management was something the twins would find useful in high school as they tried to balance academics and athletics.
“The key is getting the work done during school and whenever you can find time,” Jackson said. “We had some long days on the baseball field, but the balance was never much of an issue.”
Harrison said the solution was “staying disciplined.”
“For me, the key was getting all my homework done at school so when I got home from practice or a game, I had a lot of time to study and do other important things,” he said.
Jackson was a high honor roll student, while Harrison was a member of the National Honor Society and the National Science Honor Society.
They also excelled on the hardwood floor and the diamond.
However, according to then OHS assistant basketball coach David Stirt, Jackson and Harrison had two very different varsity basketball careers.
“They arrived at Oak Hall as freshmen and we considered keeping both on the varsity, but we had two starting guards returning and decided to move Jackson to the JV team to be the starting point guard with the idea of grooming him for the same position on the varsity as a sophomore,” he said.
Harrison only played in seven of their 14 games during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season.
As a sophomore, Jackson took over the starting point guard spot and started 65 of 66 games his last three years.
He led the Eagles in assists all three years and finished with 271 assists (second-highest total in school history) and only 135 turnovers for his career. He also averaged playing nearly 24 minutes per game during his career.
Jackson, who was MVP for Oak Hall basketball his junior and senior seasons, increased his scoring average each year from 4.9 ppg to 9.3 to 11.8 as a senior.
Although he didn’t shoot 3-pointers as often as he would have liked, he was a career 38.2% 3-point shooter and was also a tremendous defender with 54 steals as a senior.
“He was as good a point guard as there was in Gainesville last year,” said then-OHS boys basketball coach Monte Towe who, along with Stirt, stepped down at the end of last season. “He had a wonderful three years as a starter. He was quiet out on the court, but he was clearly the team leader and a tremendous competitor. He ran our team beautifully and helped us to a lot of wins the last three years.”
Harrison started getting more playing time each year, going from eight minutes per game as a sophomore to 16 minutes per game as a junior before taking a huge leap forward as a senior.
As a senior, Harrison led the team in minutes played (26.5 per game), scored 7.2 points per game, led the team in 3-point shooting percentage (42.6%) and was second on the team in 2-point FG% (50%), FT (78.1%), assists (3.0 apg) and steals (36).
In the Class 2A regional playoff loss at Munroe (Quincy), which ended the Eagles’ season at 17-6, Harrison had the best shooting performance of his career, going 5-of-7 from 3-point range, 6-of-6 on FTs, and he also made his only 2-point attempt for a career-high 23 points.
But it wasn’t his top high school sports moment.
“There are so many, but my favorite has to be beating Redeemer Christian (Ocala) in the district championship my senior basketball season after losing to them in the same game the year before,” Harrison said. “It was the first time Oak Hall basketball has ever won a district championship in their home gym. Also, winning the baseball district championship senior year was a great moment with my team.”
Jackson and Harrison formed one of the best defensive guard combos in the city.
“Harrison had a lot of big games for us,” Towe said. “He and Jackson were a tremendous pair of guards together this past season. They complemented each other on offense with Harrison doing more outside shooting and Jackson scoring by driving to the basket to score and drawing lots of fouls.”
One of Jackson’s top moments was also in hoops.
“I would say finally beating Interlachen at their place in basketball my senior year with a comeback win,” he said. “Also, just all the bus rides with the baseball guys for away games.”
The duo was a part of OHS’s first back-to-back seasons with 17 or more wins since 1977-78, including a 48-18 record the past three years, which is the best OHS three-year winning percentage in the past 45 years.
“They are both tremendous competitors and played the game the right way,” Towe said. “They never missed practices or games. They competed hard every day in practice, had great attitudes and were a pleasure to coach.”
They were inseparable in the spring.
“Jackson and Harrison were a unique pair of twins, and we were blessed to watch their exciting defensive skills for four years as our second baseman and shortstop double-play combination,” said Oak Hall baseball coach Kevin Maris. “The plays that they would create and flash throughout the years were incredible to watch those four years. They were quality leaders on and off the field and represented my baseball program at Oak Hall very well throughout their career here.”
Harrison said his fondest memories of playing together was “turning double plays in the middle infield.”
“Without looking, we always know where the other is going to be, so using this special connection was always fun,” he said.
Jackson had a career batting average of .353, a career on base percentage of .565, a career BB/K ratio of 96/39, 78 stolen bases, and a 0.00 ERA in 10.1 innings pitched his sophomore through senior year.
“Playing the middle infield together was always special during high school,” he said. “We were able to turn some clean double plays together. Some of the best memories come from traveling together over the years in both sports, from Omaha to Cooperstown to San Antonio to Atlanta. We had some fun trips.”
Jackson also led the country in batting average for most of March his junior year and was a first team Mainstreet Daily News All Area selection in 2023, as well as 2022.
“Jackson was an outstanding student-athlete,” Maris said. “He was very a talented ball player and a very smooth infielder with great glove skills. At the plate, he had an excellent awareness of the strike zone as a leadoff hitter and would make the pitchers have to pitch to him because he wasn’t ever chasing pitches out of the zone.”
As a senior, Harrison was third on the Eagles with a .379 BA and was second with a .479 OBP. In 19 games played, he was second with 22 hits and 17 stolen bases, third with 19 runs scored and 14 RBI.
He also had a .911 fielding percentage with 56 total chances and 22 putouts.
“Harrison was a standout student-athlete as well and played an exciting style of shortstop for four years,” Maris said. “He flashed excellent speed on the bases and was a solid 3-hole hitter in our offensive lineup, turning many singles into doubles and doubles into triples.”
He was the team’s MVP his ninth grade and senior seasons and was voted the best infielder (10th and 11th), along with being a first team Mainstreet Daily News All Area selection his sophomore and senior seasons.
They were a part of back-to-back district titles and state playoff appearances in their junior and senior seasons, creating lots of memories.
Jackson said the thing he will remember most about his high school sports career are the “the bonds and memories made with my teammates for sure.”
“We also had very unique coaching that I won’t forget,” he said. “I will miss the competition too.”
Harrison said the one thing he will remember most is his teammates and coaches.
“I was blessed with amazing coaches in baseball and basketball in Coach Maris and Coach Towe,” he said. “I also had a great bond with all my teammates in both sports and had so much fun at games and practices.”
Those types of memories are something that their dad appreciates.
“What I love is that their answers are usually connected to fun times with their teammates, rather than individual plays,” Brian said. “We enjoyed watching them contribute to winning district titles in basketball and baseball. We appreciate how they have handled adversity and plays that have not gone their way over the years. We have always emphasized effort in the classroom, and we are very proud of their academic achievements. It was great to watch them successfully navigate the college application process.”
It’s not surprising that they both will be attending the same school at the next level.
Jackson, who enjoys golfing with his brothers, and Harrison, who takes fantasy football “very seriously,” will be attending the University of Florida to study finance.
“I am a numbers and logical guy while he is a creative and artsy guy,” Jackson said.
Harrison concurred tongue-in-cheek.
“I’m more creative than he is,” he said. “I’ve always been an artist, and that is something that I carry onto the field or the basketball court. He’s not a creative guy, but he’s still good though.”
It’s the end of an era for the Beach boys, which is bittersweet for both Beach parents.
“What an amazing and fun ride this has been for us,” Brian said. “It is honestly a little challenging to find the right words as we are still coming to terms with no more games to attend after hundreds across several states for many years. We are thankful for great teammates and coaches in Texas and here in Gainesville. We feel very lucky and blessed, and we are just incredibly proud of the boys and excited about their next chapters.”