In the 2016 season, it looks like the Pirates will look to continue their tradition of winning that has been instilled by Coach Merrill over the past few years. According to junior outfielder, Rob Berry, some things that Merrill has for goals this season are to “win our division and win a state title.”

The state title is a feat that was accomplished only three years ago in 2013 and Cinnaminson is starting to line itself up quite well for another deep playoff run.

Leading the charge this year are captains Mike McAndrews, Brandon Staub, and Nick Mahoney. These three are all seniors who are returning from last year’s 18-7 team. Brandon Staub posted a 5-2 record over 38 innings as one of the Pirates’ top pitchers, while Nick Mahoney had 19 hits in 57 appearances at the plate. The Pirates look to these players for not only leadership but to be a driving force behind the team’s success.

Sophomore Jake Perkins says, “Mike always knows what to say to keep the energy up and to keep the team going.” These are good qualities to have especially in your seniors.

Some significant losses from last year were the team’s four best hitters who combined for 117 hits and 73 RBIs and helped the team finish as the top seed in Central Jersey Group II playoffs, but would not make it past Robbinsville in the semifinals.

This year’s team is certainly capable of going at least as far with a lot of youth returning from last year. With a current record of 9-6 (and a BCSL Patriot Division record of 5-0) the team appears to have found a productive balance between leading seniors, and talented underclassmen. Such as sophomores Jake Perkins and Mike Graff and juniors Christian Massara, Dom Cicale, and Tim Profy. This is clearly a team with a lot of youth and players eager to make a name for themselves at the varsity level, which should make for a comfortable season next year as well.

After losing their first game 15-4 to Northern Burlington, the Pirates bounced back strong with a dominating 10-0 win over Bordentown. This game saw Brandon Staub pitch a complete game shutout where he allowed only 2 hits. Dom Cicale also got things going early with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd. Some other bright spots from this game were junior Joey Cody driving in 3 runs and Christian Massara and Mike Bednarek both hitting RBI doubles. The win was secured by a monster fourth inning that saw the Pirates double their lead, driving in four runs.

After this impressive performance though, the team faltered against Haddonfield, losing this game 11-2.  The Pirates prepared for rival Delran in their next game after having it cancelled the first time around due to rain, they came out and beat Delran in a close game, 1-0. The winning run was scored early in the game which kept tensions high throughout the rest of the game.

In the next game against Rancocas Valley, the Pirates were back to their old ways, overtaking the team with the final score of 10-4. The next day against Lenape, CHS prepared to play one of the best teams in the county and all of South Jersey and did not have much success in a 14-1 loss.

The team did not lose confidence after the loss and bounced back with a 16-4 win against Florence. Keeping the game close in the first few innings, the Pirates maintained the lead and dominated the rest of the game. The boys continued the winning ways with a 5-2 win against Pemberton.

Two weekends ago in their tournament the boys suffered through two long games, resulting in a win and a loss against Sterling and Cedar Creek, respectfully. With tough weather conditions the Pirates had a successful weekend.

The Pirates then returned to face one of the top BCSL teams in Moorestown. However, CHS had to be mindful of their pitching because it would be one of their four games during the week and CHS fought, but lost to the Quakers, 7-6.  Two days later, CHS traveled to Washington Township and mindful of their pitching again, lost 9-1 against the Group 4 Minutemen.

The next day, CHS turned the tables on a quick two-game losing streak and defeated Holy Cross 5-0 at home behind a one-hitter from the CHS pitching staff.  Prior to this loss, Holy Cross had only lost twice and had scored a minimum of three runs in 11 of their 12 games that season and NJ.com had the Lancers ranked as the top team in the BCSL division.

The team followed that win up with another big win over Pemberton 4-3 at home in the first round of the BCSL playoffs.  Yesterday, the Pirates made it three wins in a row when it went to Bordentown and defeated the Scotties behind the pitching of Conville and the hitting of McAndrews and Mahoney.

Today, the Pirates will look to keep their modest win streak going when they take their talents to New Egypt and then host Burlington Township on Thursday and Riverside on Friday.  Next Tuesday’s showdown at Delran looms as the Bears look to get back in the division race and add a loss to the division record of CHS.