When Chris Troyano was a freshman, he remembered asking his older teammates if they thought he had a shot at 100 career hits after a solid rookie season on varsity.
“I finished with 22 hits my freshman year and I remember talking to the upperclassmen and I was like, ‘You guys think I have a chance with a hundred?’ And they’re like, ‘If you stay consistent, 100-percent,’” recalled Troyano.
That consistency has not only brought Troyano to the 100-hit club, but it has placed the senior as the career hits leader at North Arlington.
On April 24, Troyano set the school record for hits when he got his 98th and 99th career hits against Saddle Brook. Two days later, on April 26, Troyano got that 100th hit he sought when he led off the game with another base hit.
For Troyano, who is now up to 105 hits after another strong week at the plate, it is a testament to being both consistent and constantly improving on a yearly basis. Both were priorities he set for himself.
“My goal is just to stay consistent really, and especially as a lead offender. Just keep getting on base any way I can. Getting on base is definitely the goal all the time,” Troyano said. “Another goal every year was just to just get better every single year. So freshman year I had 22 hits. Sophomore year was 28 and then last year was 33. So I improved every single year and I stayed consistent with it.”
“When Chris came in as a freshman, I saw his maturity immediately and that’s why he’s been a four year starter on varsity,” head coach Paul Marcantuono said. “I saw his maturity at practice, his work ethic, how much he cared. He was always the first one in the cages before practice and he’s always the last one to leave.”
Troyano said he didn’t really feel any pressure until he tied Ryan Fego’s record of 97 hits set in 2013. Needing just one hit to own the record for himself, Troyano went 0-for-2 with a walk at Garfield on April 22.
Two days later, Troyano made out in his first three times at-bat before getting a RBI single in the fifth inning for the record. One inning later, he added another hit, a two-run single that tied the game at 9-9.
“I started the (Saddle Brook) game 0-for-3 and I’m just getting in my head the whole time,” said Troyano, who got to talk to Fego after breaking the record. “I’m like, “What am I doing?” And I felt pressure there. I mean, that’s really all I could think of. I just felt pressure.”
On Saturday, April 25, Troyano got his 100th hit, or so he thought, with a first inning single against Emerson Boro. It was already raining when Troyano got the hit and minutes later, after the rain got harder, the game was called, which eliminated all of the stats up until that point.
“When I told him the game’s not going to finish and we can’t even call it the 100th hit because it’s a suspended game Chris understood that,” Marcantuono said. “He was never pressing for (100 hits) because he worked so hard, he knew he was going to get it. He was always confident.”
Fortunately for Troyano, the wait was less than 24 hours as once again, Troyano got a hit in his first at-bat that Sunday against Hoboken as part of the annual Autism Awareness Games at Weehawken. He later added hit No. 101 in the 6-1 loss.
As impressive as Troyano’s hitting has been, the last couple weeks have seen the right-hander go through the best pitching stretch of his career. After giving up a run in the first inning of his April 17 start against Roselle Park, Troyano has tossed 19 consecutive scoreless innings. He pitched a complete game in the win over Roselle Park, then threw shutouts against Garfield and Leonia before picking up the save against Midland Park.
With the record out of the way and now that’s he’s committed to playing at University of Mount St. Vincent, Troyano’s focus is now singularly focused on one thing – wins.
“It’s great to not have to worry about anything (individually). I think the only thing we’re worried about is wins and losses,” Troyano said. “The goal’s to just win at this point. I tell (my teammates) every day, just go out there, leave everything out there, play every game, just do your best because we got to win these games.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)