2/1/2002 - Baseball
Navy Baseball Tabbed 2002 Patriot League Preseason Favorite

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CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - For the second-consecutive season, the Navy baseball team has been picked to win the Patriot League title, according to the pre-season poll of League coaches and sports information directors.

Navy claimed a share of the 2001 Patriot League regular-season title along with Bucknell with a 14-6 league record. In the tournament championship, the Mids were swept in a best-of-three series by the Bison.

Navy returns eight starters and three members of its four-man starting rotation. Led by junior hurlers Matt Cooney (Mountaintop, Pa.), Matt Foster (Ventura, Calif.) and Rich McDevitt (Albany, N.Y.), the Mids are primed to make a run at the regular season crown and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. Foster was a first-team All-Patriot League selection last season and posted a 5-2 record, while Cooney led all Navy starters with a 3.63 earned-run average, 45 strikeouts and six complete games.

Outfielder John Cocca (Sr./Whitehall, Pa.), a second-team All-Patriot League selection last year, broke the Navy single-season mark for stolen bases (24) and scored a team-high 33 runs. Catcher David Woolsey (Sr./Columbia, S.C.) batted a career-high .337 last year with a .422 slugging percentage in 83-bats.

Navy will begin its 2002 regular season with a doubleheader against Duke in Durham, N.C., Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. On Sunday, the Mids and Blue Devils will square off in a nine-inning tilt at 1:30 p.m.

School        Pts.        2001 Overall    2001 League
1. Navy (9)       49      21-25-1     14-6
2. Army (2)      37      17-27-1     10-10
3. Bucknell     31      31-19-0     14-6
4. Holy Cross    27      19-23-0     11-9
5. Lafayette (1) 20      10-32-0     5-15
6. Lehigh        16      14-28-0     6-14