It’s all about discipline in this league, on the mound, in the field and playing within your means here. Have pitching, have fielding, will win. That’s what the PL has going for itself this season. Not a single team in the loop is devoid of quality pitchers, meaning, this will be one of the more improved leagues.

2009 in a Paragraph:
For as great as 2008 was for the Patriot League (only two teams finished with losing records and Bucknell upset Florida State in the Regionals), 2009 was just the opposite. Only Army finished the year with a winning mark – an impressive 36 wins – while everyone else was under the Mendoza Line. The Black Knights made headlines last year with their PL dominance and runner-up finish in the Austin Regional where they played Texas tough and eliminated Boston College and Texas State. Despite all the poor overall marks, it was a tight conference race that saw Bucknell tie Army at 13-7 and Holy Cross finished a game back at 11-7 (damn rainouts!). But the Cadets took the brass ring in the PL playoffs and advanced to the Austin Regional.

2009 Results:
1- Army, 13-7
1- Bucknell, 13-7
3- Holy Cross, 11-7
4- Lafayette, 9-11
5- Navy, 8-12
6- Lehigh, 4-14

2010 in a Paragraph:
Pitch. Pitch. Pitch. That’s all those Patriot Leaguers will do this season. The key will be whoever has the firepower to strike back and the defense to stop them. Army gets every good pitcher coming back and will have the best defense in the conference to counteract any bat-weilders… yes that includes the bevy of bats that Navy has coming back. So will they take the PL again in 2010? Absolutely. But the Black Knights of the Hudson will have a hell of a time coming out on top. Navy, Bucknell and Holy Cross will have more than a quiet opinion on this. But that NCAA tournament experience from last year will keep Army in the catbird seat, and confident it can stay there.

Bucknell head man Gene Depew has Doug Shribman in his arsenal.

Favorite: Army

Contenders: Navy, Bucknell

Darkhorse: Holy Cross

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Army at Navy, April 10-11

Best Non-Conference Series: Army at Wake Forest Tournament, Feb. 19-21
(Wake Forest, Dayton)

Hot Coach: Joe Sottolano, Army

Hot Seat Coach: Sean Leary, Lehigh

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF/RHP Ben Koenigsfeld, Army

Three Non-Conference Series Patriot Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- Army at Wake Forest Tournament, Feb. 19-21. (Wake Forest, Dayton)
2- Bucknell at Elon Invitational, March 5-7 (Elon, Radford, Princeton)
3- Army at UNC Greensboro, March 5-7

Three Bold Predictions:
1- Army earns a No. 3 seed and makes another Regional title round. Yep, I didn’t blink while typing that either.
2- Like 2008, four teams will end the season with winning records.
3- The Ivy League – with its short-season restrictions – will see how easy and how much more exciting the now-expanded Patriot League playoffs are and will go to four teams next year as well.

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- ARMY (36-21, 13-7)
2009 PRI: 122
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
SS Clint Moore (.395-11-63, 10SBs)
2B Zach Price (.355, 14SBs, Frosh All American)
1B/RHP Kevin McKague (.389-6-44/7svs)
DH/LHP Joey Henshaw (.383-13-75/1-1, 4.79)
OF/RHP Ben Koenigsfeld (.342-7-38, 11SBs/8-4, 4.89, 4CGs)

The Good News:
Coach Joe Sottolano was named Regional coach of the year and could repeat this year with the team he has returning. He’s done some strong work here since we’re talkin’ two straight regular season crowns and an NCAA appearance for the Black Knights of the Hudson. Bloody good show, sport. Went 20-4 down the stretch from Tax Day on last season Knights are loaded for 2010, as the top five pitchers and five of the top six hitters are back, including two of the better two-way players in the Northeast in Koenigsfeld, the Friday starter, and McKague, the saves leader. The double-play combo of Moore and Price are huge reasons why Army was .970 in fielding last season. Watch for 2B Zach Hendrix, a 42nd round pick of the D-backs that is coming to West Point instead.

The Bad News:
Not too many hits to the roster, except for two of the three outfielders and 3Bman J.P. Polchinski. For its great finish, Army did get out to a rather pedestrian 2-7 start last year. But really, that’s nit-picking. Otherwise, this looks like a bonzai year for the Knights.

Schedule Note:
Home cookin’ down the home stretch.
Not sure how Army managed this (maybe they threatened an invasion by land) but the Knights will play their final 12 Patriot League games at home along the Hudson with Lehigh, Lafayette and Bucknell all coming to West Point in the final three weekends. In fact, from April 13th onward they’ll play only two true road games the rest of the season.

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- BUCKNELL (22-25, 13-7)
2009 RPI: 171
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
SS Ben Allen (.366)
2B Ben Yoder (.323-7-35)
OF Andrew Brouse (.330-10-57)
C B.J. LaRosa (.320, just 2 Es on defense)
1B Doug Shribman (.360-6-42)
RHP Trey Frahler (6-4, 4.34)

The Good News:
Gene Depew begins his 29th season at the helm of the Bison and is probably one or two pitchers away from having his best team of all. BU returns six .300+ hitters, four of which are seniors. The “Two Bens” double play duo of Allen and Yoder is the best in the Patriot League and seems like they’ve been on campus 10 years. Three of the top four most used pitchers return too, led by the weekend rotation of Frahler, Dylan Seeley (4-5, 6.23) and Eric Jarett (1-4, 7.47), who are all juniors. Additionally, Depew Field just got a brand spankin’ new field turf playing surface, assuring they’ll get more games in.

The Bad News:
The pitching, first and foremost, must be addressed. There is a lot of experience coming back, but the .337 OBA and evil 6.66 team ERA must be turned around. BU pitchers must establish more of a presence after only striking out opposing batters 213 times in 2009. BU must be chomping at the bit over playing Army again, after beating the Knights three out of four last March, only to end up tying them for the PL regular season title and then losing out to Lafayette in three games in the PL playoffs.

Schedule Note:
Bookends of hatred.
Speaking of their two nemesis teams Lafayette and Army, the Bison will start PL play at the Leos home field in early April and then end the regular season at West Point to take on Black Knights. That final weekend could decide the Patriot League title. Keep in mind, Bucknell went 2-5 vs. Lafayette and 3-1 vs. Army.

Holy Cross 1B Eric Oxford is also a run-through-a-wall defender as well as a good hitter.

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- HOLY CROSS (22-27, 11-7)
2009 RPI: 176
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
2B/3B Matt Perry (.423-7-37)
1B Eric Oxford (.280-10-45, .991defense)
SS John Sills (.283-6-31)
OF Brendan McCrea (.304)
LHP Matt Shapiro (3-4, 6.40)

The Good News:
The Greg DiCenzo era is kicking in well in Worcester as they’ve improved their win totals each year and have now posted back-to-back winning seasons in Patriot play two straight years (after having seven straight losing marks). Almost all hands on deck from last year, so this will be a wildly experienced team. Perry could be the best under-the-radar player in the country and he teams with Sills and Oxford to make for a solid infield. Some solid power returns as well, with 45HRs last season and good gap power up and down the order. Team improved its hitting from .266 in ‘08 to .291 last season. Keep it up boys.

The Bad News:
The pitching staff returns experience out the ying-yang, but Shapiro’s 6.40 is the best ERA returning from a team that had a 7.07 ERA overall. Clamp it down boys. The defense has some ability – as I saw when I caught their game vs. Lehigh last March – but it needs to be a steadying force this season. Didn’t seem to get the key play made at the right time in the big games.

Schedule Note:
Warmest time of the year, but not a single home game.
According to the HC website, and this is not a misprint, the Crusaders will play only 18 home games all season and not a single one after April 18th. What the hell? Oh, the other thing is, at least HC won’t make another killer west coast trip to start the season like last year when they got drummed by LMU, Arizona and Arizona State to start the season.

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- LAFAYETTE (24-29, 9-11)
2009 RPI: 224
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
CF Rob Froio (.367, 20SBs)
2B A.J. Pisarri (.282, 10SBs)
OF Matt Hall (.307-8-38)
RHP Zach Fritz (2-6, 5.50)
RHP Jeremy Atkins (4-3, 4.82)
RHP Jeff Snell (4-0, 4.75)
RHP Corey Shea (4-3, 4.81)

The Good News:
This year’s Leos will be a junior-senior heavy club, which is enough to make any coach smile. Froio had a hot summer in the wood bat Valley Baseball League and will be one of the better leadoff hitters in the country. Pisarri and 3B Justin Shepherd (.299) will keep the D solid (2nd best in the PL last year at .966). Seven of the top eight pitchers return, so look for more improvement on the 6.21 team ERA. Watch for rising sophs Snell and mid-week starter Ethan Perro (2-3, 5.40) begin to emerge. Also keep an eye on incoming OF Andrew Ruck, a 48th round pick of San Diego that came to campus.

The Bad News:
The Leos had a promising season go south with a 2-10 finish. Dan Bierce and Jeff Butler were the two bash and pop threats at the plate and on the basepaths, but both are gone now. Ryan Hanna had the most wins on the team the last two years and is the lone missing weekend starter on the hill. A more dominating No. 1 starter must step forward, since this is a staff that doesn’t have a go-to guy. Opponents hit .314 last season. Rectify that, and the Leopards could win the Patriot.

Schedule Note:
Tough stretch.
Usually April and May would be a perfect time to play a good number of home games, but Lafayette will take to the road for 16 straight games from April 6th to the 25th, including three straight PL series, at Lehigh, Holy Cross and Army. They’ll finish playing nine of their final 10 games at home to close out the regular season.

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- LEHIGH (11-36, 4-14)
2009 RPI: 282
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
OF Andy Russell (.348-7-38, 11SBs, 1st team All-Patriot)
SS Brendan McGaheran (.287, 15SBs in ‘08)
UTL Kevin Mihalik (.313-4-26/1-6, 5.48)
OF Billy Goldman (.333)
RHP Cory Kent (4-2, 3.76)
RHP Andrew Berger (2-6, 5.31)

The Good News:
Lots of experience comes back for this spring. And look for offensive improvements across the board as six of the top eight hitters return, including Russell, the team leader. Thankfully, he’ll be re-joined by McGaheran, who was the heart and soul of the infield and will be a huge addition after sitting out last season. Top seven pitchers are back with four of them being seniors.

The Bad News:
It was a fretful season in 2009, going from their 23 win team of 2008, especially with all the experience the Mountain Hawks had coming back. Unfortunately, the arm corps posted a poor 7.13 team ERA and the defense fielded at a .945 pace. The offense was curiously punchless too, hitting just 279. OF Logan Marshall (.224 in ‘09) will have to revert to ‘08 form, when he hit .278 and was 2nd team All-Patriot.

Schedule Note:
Early confidence.
The Hawks just need Ws, no matter who it comes against. Looks like there will be some opportunities to do so as well with early multi-game matchups against Morehead State, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Coppin State in the first three weeks.

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- NAVY (20-26, 8-12)
2009 RPI: 259
Starters Returning: 9
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
Mike Guadagnini (.374-3-24, 10SBs)
Kendall Bolt (.328-3-48)
C Steven Soares (.309-7-23)
RHP Luke Roberts (2-0, 1.00, .218OBA)
RHP Jeff Murdza (1-1, 5.54, .255OBA)

The Good News:
To go along with all that usual academy leadership and discipline and commitment, all nine of the field starters return and they are all juniors and seniors. The pitchers aren’t world-beaters, but the relief corps has a pair of really good ones in Roberts and Murdza, plus closer LHP Chris Murray (1-2, 5.03), who led the team in saves. The top four hitters return and all went .309 or better, led Guadagnini, who has steadily improved each year on campus. The offense should jump well past its .286 team average of a year ago, but also took 56 plunks last year.

The Bad News:
After all his success at Maine and the first four years here in Annapolis, it’s weird to see a Paul Kostacopolous-coached team with losing marks. Last year’s staff had an ERA of 5.84 could be improved, but the opponent batting average of .310 needs to be shut down. The Mids went 1-3 in each of their last three Patriot League series with Bucknell, Holy Cross and – gulp! – their rivals at Army. Not acceptable.

Schedule Note:
30?… wow.
Unlike all the other teams in the Patriot, the Midshipmen will play a staggering 30 home games this season. Or, well, they’re scheduled to play that many. We’ll see if Mother Nature cooperates. And because of a heavy dose of neutral site games, they’ll actually play only 15 true road games. Nice scheduling.