By the looks of things, Army will not be able to operate so steathly this season. Already forecast as the preseason Patriot League favorite to repeat their conference championship by several national outlets, the Black Knights are among teams receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll released on Monday.
Army has posted at least 25 victories each of the past six years and captured three Patriot League championships during that stretch. The Black Knights return 16 letterwinners, six positional starters, 10 of their top 11 pitchers and all four weekend starting pitchers from last year's club that finished 36-21 overall, captured a fourth regular season conference title in six years and reached the finals of regional for the first time in school history.
The Black Knights, who also received votes in the NCBWA's final poll last June, fell just three victories short of the school record last season established in 2005.
Army returns 72 percent (292 of 408) of its run production from that squad, and pitchers responsible for registering 28 of 36 victories (.78 percent) and eight of nine saves (89 percent).
The Black Knights, who officially opened practice on Monday, begin their season with a split doubleheader against Dayton and Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Feb. 19.
Army will begin defense of its Patriot League championship at Holy Cross on April 3-4 when the Black Knights visit Worcester, Mass., for a four game weekend series. Army defeated the Crusaders in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals last spring after the teams had split their regular-season matchup.
Texas stands atop the NCBWA preseason poll after losing in the College World Series championship series to LSU last spring when it authored an overall record of 50-16-1. LSU ranks second, followed by No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Cal State Fullerton and fifth-place Rice. Army, Connecticut and Rhode Island are the only Northeast schools included in the poll.
It marks the second time in six years that the Black Knights have received votes in the NCBWA's preseason listing. Army was similarly cited prior to the 2005 campaign. The entire preaseason NCBWA poll can be viewed here.
Black Knights Blog: In addition to writing a weekly journal that will appear on the Army Athletic Association's official Web site at www.goARMYsports.com, Kevin McKague's weekly diary will be featured at www.collegebaseballinsider.com ... Army was prominently featured in the collegebaseballinsider.com Patriot League preview that was released on Monday ... while the Black Knights were forecast to repeat as conference champions, Matt Fouch was selected by league coaches as the "pitcher you don't want to face"... McKague was chosen as the Patriot League's top closer ... Ben Koenigsfeld joined Fouch as two of the league's top three starting pitchers ... Joey Henshaw was cited as one of the conference's "three biggest power threats" ... Clint Moore also received a host of honors ... in addition to being selected by league field bosses as the Patriot League's top defensive infielder," Moore was named one of the league's "three best pure hitters" and selected as "the hitter you least want to face" ... the Black Knights headed to Foley Athletic Center for their first full team practice of the season on Monday.
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