IVY BASEBALL PREVIEW: Harvard and Princeton head Ivy elite

The 1997 Ivy League baseball season ended, as expected, with Harvard rolling over Princeton 22-4 in the deciding game of the best-of-three title series. The red-hot Crimson went on to defeat Army in a best-of-three NCAA play-in and then took down UCLA and Stetson in the Midwestern Regionals before succumbing to Oklahoma State 10-7 and the Bruins 14-9. Second-year coach Joe Walsh led the Crimson to its best finish in school history, going 34-16 overall and 18-2 in the Ivies -- rattling off 12 straight wins to end the regular season. Walsh is expected to lead his Crimson back atop the Red Rolfe Division this year; however, this time around it won't be quite as easy. ·Red Rolfe Division Harvard returns eight of nine starting position players including 1997 Player of the Year Brian Ralph, a fleet-footed centerfielder who hit .390 as a sophomore last season. But gone from the roster is a pair of First Team All-Ivies -- first baseman Pete Albers, who hit .364 with eight homeruns and 46 RBI's in 1997, and starting pitcher Frank Hogan, who made every fourth Crimson game sponsored by the letter 'K'. Harvard may not even make it out of the Rolfe Division this season, much less back to NCAA post-season play. While Brown (5-37, 2-18 Ivy League last season) is still years away from giving the Crimson a challenge, both Yale (24-19, 16-4) and Dartmouth (22-16, 11-9) appear ready to seize the Ivy crown from Harvard. Led by First Team All-Ivy pitcher Eric Gutshall's vicious slider and the power-hitting bats of shortstop Brian Ivy and designated hitter Ben Johnstone, Yale will launch a potent attack on the diamond. Elis coach John Stuper enters his sixth season as skipper, acquiring a team that has a healthy mix of youth and experience, as well as a winning tradition. Dartmouth too will be competitive in '98. Although the Big Green finished third in the Rolfe last season, their 11-9 record would have been good enough for a first-place finish, had they played in the Gehrig. Ninth-year head coach Bob Whalen has reason for optimism, returning four First Team All-Ivies -- senior relief pitcher Dan Godfrey, junior catcher Eric Anderson, sophomore shortstop Brian Nickerson and junior third baseman Mike Conway. Nickerson led the Ivies in batting average last season, hitting .463 (63-for-136), while Conway finished one base hit below the Doug Glanville line (which is double the Mendoza) at .399. ·Lou Gehrig Division While the race for the Rolfe resembles a marathon, the Gehrig hunt looks more like a two-team sprint. Defending division-champion Princeton (20-25, 10-10) returns just one hitter from among the 1997 leaders, senior outfielder Michael Hazen. But the Tigers' line-up is solid from top to bottom and the pitching staff seems to always toss the cow just well enough to pick up the 'W'. Penn (19-21, 10-10) enters '98 with glaring holes defensively in the infield and question marks about who will replace A.B. Fischer and Mike Greenwood as the No. 3 and 4 starters. The Quakers, however, do have superstar pitcher/outfielder/first baseman Armen Simonian in their dugout. Simonian was among the Ivy leaders in both batting average (.365) and E.R.A. (2.73) last season. If his leadership wears off on the younger pitchers, the Red and Blue could rise to the top. Penn also has power-hitting first baseman Russ Farscht in the mix. The junior came out of the woodwork last season, shocking everybody, even Penn coach Bob Seddon, by hitting .372 with five homers. The Gehrig's two weaker teams, Cornell (13-26, 7-13) and Columbia (12-26-1, 6-14), shouldn't pose much of a threat. Both teams bulked their Ivy records last season against each other while struggling against the Quakers and Tigers. The Big Red has just one returning All-Ivy this season in shortstop Bill Walkenbach, while the Lions only legit offensive weapon is designated hitter Travis Hunter, who hit 14 dingers last season -- one more than the entire Brown team. With the Ivy season not starting until the final weekend in March, teams will have three weeks of non-conference play to get their games in order. But as early as training camp, one thing is apparent -- there is no single dominant team in the Ivies this season.