The Cinnaminson 14U softball team entered play Monday night with a 41-0 mark that dated back to September, the start of their season.
The Pirates were playing for the UGSA Burlco League title Monday night at Wood Park against the Palmyra-Riverton Hurricanes, a team they had beaten seven times this season, but could come up with an eighth win as the Pirates fell 8-2.
Cinnaminson was the #1 seed and Palmyra-Riverton was the #2 seed in the playoffs.
The Pirates beat Audubon 11-0 in the quarterfinals Saturday and Swedesboro 10-6 in the semifinals on Sunday.
Pal-Riv jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and never let the Pirates tie the game, increasing the lead to 3-0 in the second before Cinnaminson could plate a run.
Cinnaminson hit the ball well Monday night, but could not string hits together to score runs. A leadoff triple in the bottom of the second was stranded at third.
The Pirates finally scratched across a run in the bottom of the fourth on a throwing error.
The Hurricanes made a brilliant over-the-shoulder catch towards the center field fence to save a run in the same inning to keep it a 3-1 game.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth the Pirates made it a 3-2 game in favor of the Hurricanes on a bloop single down the left field line.
Palmyra-Riverton put the game away in the top of the seventh by scoring five times to extend the lead to 8-2.
Cinnaminson went down 1, 2, 3 in the bottom half of the inning for their first loss of the season as the Hurricanes won the UGSA Burlco League title.
Head coach Rich Onorato told his team after the game that they should hold their heads high for what they accomplished this season.
“41-1 is pretty impressive. You should be proud of what you girls did this season. We beat that team seven times this year. No one can take away what you did this year.”
“Every single girl on this team has improved and that was our goal. As coaches, because we can say that, this season was a success.”
The 14U softball team will begin a new season in the fall, but will look much different as a handful of the girls from this season’s team will be headed for high school.
The Pirates trained all winter long at the program’s indoor facility off Industrial Highway and will do so again this year.
The players have access to indoor batting cages, turf for fielding drills and get to work with outside instructors on hitting and pitching throughout the winter.
Cinn City Sports will continue have coverage of the Cinnaminson Elite, a college league team, throughout the summer and the Rancocas Valley League Cinnaminson Reds. Both teams play Wednesday. Stay with us for live updates and stories.
Follow Cinn City Sports on Twitter for news, scores and live updates from games throughout each season. Like Cinn City Sports on Facebook. Sign-up for our daily newsletter, which arrives daily at 8am with the previous day’s stories, on the homepage.
