HAVERFORD, Pa. – Tommy Bergjans '15 of the Haverford College baseball team was picked as the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year. This is the third time that Bergjans was selected for the Academic All-Area team that is voted on by the sports information offices of the 29 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, an athlete must be in at least his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better.
Earlier this week, Bergjans was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) amateur draft. The Dodgers used the 252nd overall pick on the Fords' right-hander. The three-time All-American was the third Ford in Haverford baseball history to be selected in the MLB amateur draft.
Bergjans was fantastic in his senior season, finishing with a 5-3 record, 1.07 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings. The Manhattan Beach, Calif. native was the NCAA Division III leader in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings (14.48), second in ERA, 10th in strikeout to walk ratio (7.93) and 14th in WHIP (.92). He became the first Ford in program history to strike out over 100 batters in a season and is the Centennial Conference all-time leader in strikeouts. The Fords' pitcher posted eight 10+ strikeout outings in 2015 and finished his career with 18 total.
In 2014, Bergjans sported a 9-2 record, a 1.08 ERA, 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a .88 WHIP. The right-hander ranked among the Division III national leaders in hits allowed per nine innings (second, 4.58), strikeouts (third, 96), strikeouts per nine innings (seventh), ERA (ninth), victories (10th) and WHIP (14th). He was named an All-American first team member by D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and became the eighth player in conference history to earn back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards. During the summer after his junior year, Bergjans pitched in the Cape Cod League, the most prestigious amateur baseball league in the country, for the Orleans Firebirds.
As a sophomore, Bergjans was a D3baseball.com All-American second team member while also making the website's All-Mid-Atlantic Region first team and ABCA All-Region second team. He was named to the all-conference first team and the Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Year, a first for a Haverford pitcher. During his freshman season, he was awarded an All-Centennial Conference second team accolade after going 6-4 with a 2.72 ERA and 78 strikeouts. His strikeouts (third) and ERA (fourth) placed in him in the top five among conference foes.
The pitcher graduated as the program's all-time leader in ERA (1.69), lowest opponent's batting average (.195), most strikeouts per nine (11.91), wins (27), innings pitched (282 2/3), strikeouts (374). He also led Haverford to the Centennial Conference Championship in 2012 and 2014 including victories in the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional. Off the mound, Bergjans was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American third team and capped off his career at Haverford College with receiving the Varsity Cup which is awarded to the most outstanding athlete of the senior class.