Harvard's baseball and lacrosse teams went to the polls yesterday to elect the captains who must try to put their squads on the championship trail next year. Second baseman Barry Cronin earned the baseball title while Kevin McCall and Bruce Bruckmann will share the honor in lacrosse.

Cronin will shoulder much of the responsibility for reinstating Harvard as the Eastern League's premier practitioner of the national pastime. Cronin and centerfielder Leon Goetz will be the only returning starters from this year disappointing 25-10 nine.

Solid Performer

Finishing 1975 with a respectable 260 average, Cronin knocked home 22 runs, scored 19 himself and swiped six bases. Through the season's first 20 games, he hit a lusty 357, but a 3 for 26 dry spell over the final eight contests brought him down to earth. He ranked second on the team in RBI's and fifth in runs scored.

Cronin is philosophic about next year's campaign. "Though we lose seven starters, we'll have the nucleus for another strong team," he said yesterday.

Surprise In Store

"We'll also be implementing fall baseball practice and that should help us find the strongest team. Some of the teams that were gunning for us this year may be surprised next spring. We'll especially want to win a few games early in the season to establish momentum," he said.

Bruckman and McCall were the midfield mainstays of a lacrosse squad that struggled to a 4-9 final slate. McCall placed third in team scoring with 22 goals and eight assists, while Bruckmann ended up fourth with 20 goals and six assists.

"We're going to get better." McCall said yesterday. "We loss only two starters, we have a pretty good freshman team to draw on, and we'll be more accustomed to the new system we had to learn this season he said.

In any event, yesterday's elections have to be regarded as something of a coup for Cronin. McCall and Bruckmann. Next year they will once again be roommates in Kirkland House.