Former Trojan Joey Denison and current head coach Mark Smartt were named the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Player of the Year and Coach of the Year at the organization’s state coaches convention in Birmingham Friday evening.

A native of Troy, Denison can add yet another award to his trophy collection from the 2018 season that already included Sun Belt Player of the Year, three different All-America teams, First Team All-Sun Belt and NCAA Athens Regional All-Tournament Team. He posted an unprecedented school single-season record 81 RBI, which led the conference and ranked third nationally – his 91 hits were the fourth-most by any player in school history.

Smartt, who now enters his fourth season as the head ball coach of the tradition-rich program, led the Trojans back into the national spotlight by winning 42 games and receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals – the first time Troy had made the tournament in five years. His 2018 team included two All-Americans, five all-conference selections, an NCAA statistical champion and a Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner.

The Alabama Baseball Coaches Association was founded in 1995 with a mission to educate, honor and promote the state’s amateur baseball players and coaches. The 24^th Annual AlaBCA State Coaches Convention is currently taking place at the Birmingham Marriott.

Troy baseball is less than a month away from kicking off a new campaign, as the Trojans get set to host Central Michigan in a four-game series starting February 15 at Riddle-Pace Field.