Honors:
- 2024 Atlantic East Conference Coaching Staff of the Year
Sam Bender is entering his seventh season as an assistant coach for the Marymount baseball program. In this role, he serves as the recruiting coordinator for the Saints, as well as the primary hitting coach.
In 2025, Bender played an integral role in the development of Saints batters that led the Atlantic East Conference in most hitting categories, while sporting a team .399 batting average against conference opponents. Across the whole season, the team batted .336 against one of the hardest ranked schedules in the country.
Marymount baseball won the Atlantic East Conference Tournament in 2025 and made their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history with Bender helping lead the charge.
During Bender's six-year stint with the program to date, the Saints hold a .635 winning percentage, while hitting at a .307 clip.
A native of Maryland, Bender has brought prominent coaching experience to the Saints program.
Bender has worked extensively with hitters alongside now head coach Mike Cassidy throughout his tenure with the Saints, producing VaSID Player of the Year Bill Wojcik in 2020, while also coaching up two conference players of the year. He was a part of the staff in the team's first-ever conference championship in 2021. The coaching staff won the Atlantic East Coaching Staff of the Year after that season.Â
Prior to coming to MU, Bender coached two seasons at Montgomery College, while also coaching for the Bethesda Big Train, a member of the Cal Ripken Summer Collegiate League. He worked with multiple MLB draft picks, including a first round pick (Nolan Schanuel) and a second round pick (Kemp Alderman). While coaching for the Big Train, the hitters broke multiple team and league offensive records.
Bender began his coaching career at his alma mater Thomas S. Wooton High School in Rockville, Md.
