http://newsdesk.gmu.edu/2014/06/storied-season-patriots-start-new-chapter/
But many of the guys who helped the team win the title will not be around to defend it. Coach Bill Brown, in his 33rd year leading the program, will lose 13 seniors off the championship team. This is a group that went from being part of a last-place team in the Colonial Athletic Association last year to winning a championship this spring.
“The memories of the run they helped engineer the last few weeks of the season will stay with them forever, and their successes will be a part of Mason baseball history,” Brown says. “They represented the university, athletic department and baseball program with class and dignity. They certainly deserve their place on the outfield wall as champions.”
Mason will return a few starters next season—shortstop Brandon Gum, an undeclared major from Woodbridge, Va.; center fielder Luke Willis, a communication major from Annandale, Va.; and catcher Ray Toto, a management major from Drexel Hill, Pa.
The departing players might miss the team as much as the team will miss them.
“George Mason University has been a great experience for me both academically as well as athletically,” says senior first-team all-conference second baseman Chris Cook, a finance and management major from Riva, Md. “The coaching staff allowed me to grow as a person and I cannot thank them enough for all they have done for me. I will be a Patriot for life.”
“I’ll remember the walk-off [wins], the road trips, the flights, the dog pile, and getting to experience regional baseball on a nationally televised medium,” says senior third baseman-outfielder Blaise Fernandez, a communication major from Bernville, Pa. “Those are the things I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”
Second-team all-conference pitchers Gaynor and Anthony Montefusco, sport management major from Medford, N.J., will be missed. Montefusco ended his career with 249 strikeouts, breaking the program record of Stacen Gant, who fanned 246 batters from 2002 to 2005.