May 28, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) has announced its annual All-New England teams, and two Yale players made the squad. Ryan Lavarnway was named the First Team All-New England catcher, while outfielder Josh Cox was named Second Team All-New England. It's the second consecutive year that both Lavarnway and Cox have earned All-New England honors. They were both chosen for the second team last season.

Lavarnway was a Second Team All-Ivy selection in 2008. Despite missing the last 11 games with an injury, he still led the Ivy League with 13 home runs, 42 RBIs, 29 walks, an .824 slugging percentage and a .541 on-base percentage. Lavarnway also led the Bulldogs with a .398 batting average. He was named Ivy League Player of the Week three times during the season and became the conference's all-time leader with 33 career home runs. Lavarnway is a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award and the Golden Spikes Award, as well as a candidate for the Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award.

Josh Cox

Cox, a unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection, set a school record with a league-leading 72 hits en route to a career-high .377 batting average. The only Yale player to start all 45 games, Cox also set a school record with 191 at-bats this season. He paced Yale with 38 runs scored and 14 doubles and finished second in the Ivy League with 21 stolen bases. A CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-District selection, he shared the G.H. Walker, Jr., Award as team MVP and received the 2008 William Neely Mallory Award, given to Yale's top graduating senior male athlete.

The 27 players chosen to the first and second teams comprise the University Division roster for the 2008 NEIBA Collegiate Baseball All-Star Game at Fenway Park on June 14. However, both Lavarnway and Cox are candidates to be selected in the June 5-6 Major League Baseball Draft. If they get drafted and sign pro contracts, they would be ineligible to play in the All-Star Game.

Yale finished with a 20-24-1 overall record in 2008 and was second in the Red Rolfe Division with a 9-10-1 Ivy League mark.

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