Feb. 19, 2010

Defending champion Army has been selected as the favorite to repeat in the Patriot League, in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the conference office.

The Black Knights received eight first-place votes and 46 points to finish ahead of Bucknell, which garnered the other four first-place votes and 39 points to place second.

Holy Cross came in third with 35 points, followed by Navy, Lafayette and Lehigh.

Army shared the 2009 regular-season title with Bucknell before winning the Patriot League Tournament. The Black Knights reached the finals of the Austin Regional before falling to eventual national runner-up Texas. Army became the first Patriot League team to win two games in a regional.

The Black Knights return five first team all-league performers, including junior Ben Koenigsfeld, the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year as well as tournament Most Valuable Player. He was first team all-league as starting pitcher and outfielder.

Army, Bucknell and Navy start the season this weekend before the remaining three take the field next weekend. Conference contests begin the weekend of April 3-4. The league tournament semifinals will be May 15-16 and the championship series will be May 22-23. The Patriot League Tournament will include the top four teams and feature best-of-three series at home sites for the semifinals and championship.

2010 Predicted Order of Finish

(2009 Patriot/overall records, points, first-place votes)

1 Army (13-7, 36-21) 46 (8)

2 Bucknell (13-7, 22-25) 39 (4)

3 Holy Cross (11-7, 22-27) 35

4 Navy (8-12, 20-26-1) 27

5 Lafayette (9-11, 24-29) 21

6 Lehigh (4-14, 11-36-1) 12