Five Bentley Baseball Players Earn All-Conference Honors; Troiani Tabbed for 1st Team

Five Bentley Baseball Players Earn All-Conference Honors; Troiani Tabbed for 1st Team

WALTHAM, Mass. – Five members of the Bentley University baseball team, including junior center fielder Max Troiani (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon HS), were honored Wednesday when the 2019 All-Northeast-10 Conference teams were announced.

Troiani was voted by the conference coaches to the first team while the second team honorees were graduate second baseman Mike Samko (Arlington/BB&N) and junior left fielder Luke Figueira (Taunton/Taunton HS).  Also recognized, as third team selections, were junior designated player Ryan Berardino (Sudbury/Lincoln-Sudbury Reg. HS) and senior first baseman/outfielder Brandon Grover (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill HS).

Troiani, a third-team honoree in 2018 and the Falcons' leadoff hitter, scored a conference-high 50 runs while hitting .320 with nine home runs and 29 RBI.  He ranks second in the conference in HR and is third in total bases (99), fourth in slugging (.566) and eighth in stolen bases (17). Troiani also tracked down 119 balls while patrolling center for the Falcons.

Samko, the seventh player in Bentley history to amass 200 career hits, batted .311 with his 52 hits including ten doubles, two triples and one homer. He scored 33 times, drove in 27 runs and is one of only two conference players with at least 100 putouts and 100 assists. Last year, Samko was voted to the All-Northeast-10 first team.

Figueira finished the season with eight home runs, tied for third in the NE10, and a .506 slugging percentage, tenth best. He batted .279 and his season totals also included 27 runs, 28 RBI and 78 total bases, second most on the squad.

Berardino, a .309 career hitter who was a second-team All-Northeast-10 honoree the last two seasons, finished with a .296 average, 24 runs scored and 22 RBI. He handled 211 chances in the field, most in the NE10 for a player who didn't make an error.

Grover, who was a first-teamer in 2018, led the team in RBI with his 39 fourth best in the conference. He hit .262 overall and homered five times, boosting his four-year total to 17. Grover started 17 games in right, 16 at first and nine as the DH.

Bentley finished Bob DeFelice's 51st season as head coach with a 21-21 record after winning 12 of its last 15 games.

NE10 Release