LANCASTER, Pa. - Haverford College's Tommy Bergjans became the eighth pitcher in Centennial Conference history to garner back-to-back pitcher of the year awards when the conference released the All-Centennial teams on Thursday morning. Joining Bergjans on the first team was senior Nick Miranda, while Patrick Falkoff and Nick Ott were named All-Centennial honorable mention.
Bergjans (8-2) broke the Haverford school record for career strikeouts this year in a 12-strikeout effort against Dickinson. The junior pitcher has fanned 250 batters and is also top in program history with an average of 10.9 strikeouts per game. Bergjans tied the program record with eight wins, posted a 1.10 ERA and held his opponents to a .149 batting average during the year. The right-hander also delivered six innings of shutout relief work against Gettysburg College in the marathon 12-inning conference championship game on the way to his program-record 21st victory of his career. The Manhattan Beach, Calif. native struck out 83 batters overall and was a unanimous selection to the All-Centennial first team.
Miranda earned his first All-Conference first-team selection after notching the third-best batting average in the conference (.350) and led the Fords in runs (41), RBIs (23) and total bases (62). The center fielder recorded a career-high 14-game hitting streak during the season and tied a program record with five hits in a win over Ursinus.
Closer Patrick Falkoff led the conference and tied a school mark with seven saves this year in 19 appearances. On top of Falkoff's seven saves, the senior went 3-0 and struck out a personal-best 25 batters. The right hander pitched two shutout innings against Johns Hopkins University in Haverford's first elimination game of the Centennial tournament and fanned three Blue Jays to help the Fords advance to an eventual conference title.
Ott received his first recognition from the Centennial Conference in his second full season as a starter. The sophomore slugger started in 30 games and led the Fords with 11 doubles and two triples. The catcher had the highest slugging percentage (.447) on the team among players who had at least 65 at bats and was second on the squad with 23 RBIs.
Senior Kyle Waney was named to the conference's All-Sportsmanship Team after striking out 18 batters in five starts. Waney started Game 7 of the Centennial Championship and tossed six innings, struck out five batters and only allowed one earned run.
Gettysburg College's Nate Simon was named the Centennial Player of the Year and John Icaza of Muhlenberg College was selected as the rookie of the year. The Bullets' head coach, John Campo, was named the conference coach of the year.
Haverford continues its season in the NCAA Regional next week, May 14-18. The Fords will find out their path in the national tournament on Sunday, May 11 on NCAA.com.