Harvard favored to take Ivies

With Penn celebrating Ivy League championships in both football and men's basketball this year, Quakers fans have become accustomed to their teams finishing on top. Winning the Ivy title in baseball, however, may be a bit more difficult for the Red and Blue. While the Quakers were favored to finish near or at the top on the gridiron and the court, the competition on the diamond will be somewhat harsher. Penn and Cornell will probably compete for second in the Lou Gehrig Division, while Harvard should win the Red Rolfe Division and the entire Ivy League yet again. Here is a team-by-team breakdown, in predicted order of finish. Lou Gehrig Division To get to the NCAA Tournament last year, Harvard -- the winner of the Red Rolfe division -- had to get through Lou Gehrig division champion Princeton. The Tigers finished 25-14 overall and 13-7 in the Ivy League. The Tigers will look to outfielder Max Krance, who hit .411 to garner Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors, and fellow sophomore Andrew Hanson, who plays both first and third base. Both were second team All-Ivy players as freshmen. Returning relief pitcher Howard Horn was also named to the second team last year. One Tiger that Penn fans will not be looking forward to seeing is pitcher Chris Young. The basketball center will also pitch for Old Nassau. "In our division, Princeton is the team to beat because they have pitching," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. · In 1998, Cornell took second in the Gehrig division behind Princeton. Finishing with an overall record of 18-18-1, the Big Red split their four-game season series with Penn. Junior Craig Mauro hit .370 for Cornell last season and should be a big contributor this season. Juniors John Osgood and Doug Williamson return to anchor the Big Red pitching staff. Last year, Williamson was the only Big Red pitcher to have an earned run average under 5.00, recording a season mark of 4.93. · For Columbia, things should be looking up in 1999. After finishing 11-30 and 5-15 in the Ivy League, the Lions have plenty of room for improvement. First-year head coach Mikio Aoki will be the one the Lions hope can lead them from the depths of the Gehrig division. Like the Quakers, though, Columbia is not as experienced as most of the league. But with some strong recruits, the Lions may be a contender in future seasons. Red Rolfe Division One again Harvard will be the favorite to take the Ivy title. Last season, the Crimson dominated the Ancient Eight while compiling a 36-12 overall record and finishing the season ranked 24th in the Associated Press poll. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, the Crimson look to be just as tough this season. Harvard will return 21 lettermen in 1999 in its quest for a third straight Ivy title. Despite losing center fielder Brian Ralph -- the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year -- and third team All-American David Frost, the Crimson is still a talented squad. Third baseman Hal Carey, an All-Ivy selection who hit .529 in last year's NCAA tournament, will anchor the offense for the Crimson, and Harvard's top four pitchers are all seasoned veterans. · Yale will be looking to improve upon last season's mark of 21-21. Although the Elis finished second in the Rolfe division last year, they will be expected to finish above the .500 mark in 1999. One of the keys to that improvement is returning Ivy League Player of the Year Tony Coyne. The shortstop won the triple crown by hitting .378 with and 43 runs batted in and 10 home runs in league play. Centerfielder Ben Johnstone and catcher Todd Kasper will also be expected to provide offensive firepower. Johnstone hit .381 while stealing 26 bases, and Kasper hit .395. In addition, Kasper has a rocket of an arm, throwing out 41 percent of potential base stealers. But that offense will not help the team win if the pitchers cannot get runners out. It remains to be seen if Yale's young starting rotation -- which includes four freshmen and a junior -- can be successful in the Ivies. "I probably have nine pitchers that could start," Yale coach John Stuper told The Yale Daily News. "[The starting rotation] needs to perform and chances are that one or two of them will be moved around." · The 1998 edition of the Dartmouth baseball squad won 23 games, which was the second most in school history. With the Big Green returning every position player from that team and also adding former All-American Brian Nickerson -- who missed last season with an injury -- Dartmouth could make some significant noise in the Ivy League this season. But a huge potential problem is the loss of talent from the pitching staff. The Big Green lost four starters from last season who combined for 193 of the team's 326 innings. Another huge loss is graduated senior Dan Godfrey, who had been a dominant closer for the Big Green. So while the Big Green may be able to hit the ball with the best of them, the major question right now is whether the Dartmouth pitchers can fill that tremendous void. · For the Brown Bears, it will be difficult to improve more than they did last season. Entering his third year in Providence, Brown coach Marek Drabinski has improved his win total each season. Senior captain Peter DeYoung, who can play any infield position, led the Bears with a .316 average and 49 hits last year. The Bears will have a much more experienced staff this year, returning six pitchers to the mound. Graeme Brown, who played in 1997 but sat out last year, will be another important addition to the Bears. "Brown is trying to move up in that division and they will be better," Seddon said.

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