It was one of the turning points of the season for Hartford shortstop Ben Bengtson, and officially, it didn’t even happen.
Bengtson was on a tear with the rest of his Hawks teammates against Albany, one hit shy of the cycle in one of the first games following a mid-season slump, when the skies opened up. The rain never relented, canceling the game and taking Bengtson’s breakout performance with it.
The stats were erased. But the impression the game left couldn’t be.
“I was like ‘Man, this is it. I’m back on track,’ ” the former Concord High standout said. “Then the next game against Northeastern, I told myself ‘All right, your swing’s there, everything’s there, just get back on track.’ ”
The message stuck. Bengtson went back to playing the game that has made him one of the brightest collegiate talents in the region, finishing the season with a .316 batting average, six home runs, 51 RBI and a .925 OPS.
“I think maturity wise, just knowing what to expect, that was a big thing,” Bengtson said. “I stayed pretty steady, and I think that’s what comes with maturity and experience. I learned a lot, and that helped me have a good year this year.”
The results have turned heads across college baseball. Bengtson was named to the All-America East first team in only his sophomore year, and Wednesday, he was picked for the Division I Northeast All-Region second team.
“He’s one of the more talented players on our roster,” Head Coach Justin Blood said. “He’s one of the very best shortstops in the Northeast. Defensively, offensively, he just had a really good year. Couldn’t really ask for too much more out of him.
“We definitely saw some of the things he’s doing now and identified those, but he’s been a pleasant surprise in some other areas too.”
He’s been playing a different game than the one that first drew Blood’s attention. Bengtson was the prototypical leadoff hitter with the Crimson Tide, a shortstop who combined speed with a bat that laced line drives to all fields with occasional power. But the Hawks took Bengtson from the top third of the lineup this year and put him in the fifth hole, a spot that requires a heavier hitter.
Bengtson was prepared. He spent the offseason in the gym adding muscle to his 6-foot-1, 198-pound frame and reaped the rewards, tying for the team lead with six home runs after hitting none the year before, leading the Hawks in RBI and finishing second with a .540 slugging percentage.
“In the fall I had a lot of power, and my coaches told me the long ball would come, I just had to stay up the middle and gap-to-gap,” he said. “Sure enough, the home runs did come.”
Players often lose versatility in their efforts to gain weight and develop into sluggers, but that hasn’t been the case with Bengtson. He runs as well as he did when he entered college, and his defensive skills, his greatest asset at Concord, have only gotten better under the tutelage of assistant coach Tim DeJohn.
“He can play both positions on the left side of the infield, and play them above average,” Blood said. “He might have the best arm in our conference for an infielder.”
“I take pride in my defense. As much as people spend time on offense, I spend that same amount of time on defense,” said Bengtson, who moved from third base before the year. “Defense was my game in high school, and it continues to be my game.”
There was a point, however, when the season was a struggle. Bengtson started hot but saw his average dip, sinking to a season-low .268 when he went 2-for-10 in a mid-April series with Binghamton.
He knew something was wrong, and after going back to fundamentals in practice and before games with hitting coach Steve Malinowski, Bengtson saw that the flaw was simple.
“I remember that pretty vividly,” he said. “It all came down to timing. When things aren’t going well, you’ve just got to look at a few things. It’s not the hands, it’s not your eyesight, it’s just your timing.”
Bengtson and Malinowski worked out the kinks, and the results took off. Two weeks later came the Albany series, which was followed immediately by a 3-for-4 performance against Northeastern. Five games later came Bengtson’s magnum opus, an eight-RBI game against UMass Lowell in which Bengtson hit grand slams in back-to-back innings.
Overall, Bengtson hit .387 after his work with Malinowski, helping the Hawks to a school record for wins with 37 and fitting in with a potent lineup that batted .302 for the year.
“I thought he was much better with his approach,” Blood said. “Instead of going to the plate trying to accomplish something that wasn’t necessarily needed that at-bat, he was unselfish and would concentrate on trying to hit the ball to the right side or starting his entire at-bat against a tough pitcher in the two-strike approach, just to shorten his swing and try to get an RBI.
“I think for him, knowing he possesses the physical ability to try to hit home runs, try to hit doubles, and that he can also shorten it down … he’s gotten so much better at that.”
It’s helped Bengtson first adjust to and then thrive at the college level, a transition he called the biggest challenge of his life.
“It’s the speed of the play. It’s really fast,” he said. “It’s a totally different atmosphere, totally different game. You’ve got to be ready for it.”
Bengtson has been ready, and now the focus starts to shift to the future. As a rising junior, he’ll be eligible for the MLB draft next year, where Blood expects him to draw attention.
“If I’m looking at that kid as a pro scout, (I’m) thinking he’s a strong, physical, really toolsy kid who’s producing at a high level,” he said.
Bengtson hears the talk. But he knows the future is out of his hands.
Besides, playing college baseball is a good enough gig as it is.
“My baseball career can be over in three years. I’ve seen it with the upperclassmen, and it’s scary,” he said. “So I’m going to play my heart out and play the game I know best. Hopefully good things happen.”
(Drew Bonifant can be reached at 369-3340, abonifant@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @dbonifant.)