TOWSON, Md. - Former Tiger baseball standout
Brian Conley, a 17th round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles, has gotten off to a good start to his professional baseball career with the Bluefield Orioles of the Appalachian League. In his first eight games for Bluefield, he is batting .259 with a team-leading six runs scored. He also has a double, one home run and two runs batted in.
Conley, who earned second team All-Colonial Athletic Association honors for the Tigers this season, has played in all eight games for Bluefield, mostly at third base. In his second professional game, he hit his first home run, a solo homer against the Elizabethton Twins on June 18. Conley is tied for the team lead with two stolen bases and has a .412 on-base percentage. He has drawn five walks with only two strikeouts.
On Saturday, he went 3-for-4 against the Princeton Devil Rays.
As a senior, Conley led the Tigers with a .352 batting average. He hit 16 doubles, one triple, and 12 home runs. He ranked fifth in the CAA with 65 runs batted in and he scored 50 runs.
A starter in 56 games in rightfield, he was named as the CAA Player of the Week in mid-April after batting .421 with five homers and 13 RBI's in five games.
A three-year starter who saw action at seven different positions during his college career, Conley finished third on Towson's all-time list of home run leaders with 36. A .319 hitter in his career, he ranks ninth on Towson's all-time list with 209 base hits. He also scored 149 runs, eighth on the all-time list, while his 155 career RBI's place him fourth.
In his senior season, he led Towson to a final record of 30-28 and a berth in the CAA Tournament. Led by Conley, the Tigers finished as CAA runners-up after entering the tournament as the number six seed. In the CAA Tournament, Conley batted .412 with two home runs and nine runs batted in. He was named to the CAA All-Tournament team.
A very good student, Conley was selected to the Academic All-America ® District 2 team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He is a Finance major with a 3.31 grade point average.
Conley is one of three former Tiger baseball players who are currently in the minor leagues. Former Tiger infielder Shane Justis is playing for the Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League, a AA team in the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization. Former outfielder Casper Wells is playing for the Erie Sea Wolves of the Eastern League, a AA team in the Detroit farm system.
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