Prior to the start of the 2015 season, head coach Kevin Merrill noted that he would have a great problem this season, finding ways to get every hitter on the team into his lineup. He wasn’t kidding; the Pirates scored 191 runs this season en route to an 18-7 record, a division title and a number-one seed in the Central, Group 2 tournament.
The Pirates opened the season with a 7-6 win over Northern Burlington, one of the top teams in the county. In fact, the Greyhounds were still playing as of Saturday, losing in the Group 3 state final to South Plainfield.
“Northern Burlington on opening day,” Merrill said. “They have consistently been ranked as one of the top teams in the whole state, are playing in the State Group 3 Championship game on Saturday, and that was their only loss in the whole month of April (12-1).”
As the season moved on, the Pirates qualified for the BCSL Tournament. For the first time in the history of the tournament, the Pirates would not compete in the title game as Rancocas Valley eliminated Cinnaminson 23-6 in the first round.
The loss in the BCSL tournament dropped the Pirates record to 9-4 on the young season, but they were not done yet. The Pirates went on to win 9 of their final 12 games of the season after the BCSL loss to Rancocas Valley, including two playoff wins.
Cinnaminson went 3-0 against Delran in 2015 and 2-0 against Holy Cross. One of the Delran victories came in the Central, Group 2 tournament.
“This marks only the second time I have gone undefeated against Delran for a season, and first time going 3-0,” Merrill said. “The rivalry with them and Holy Cross is year after year a big deal, and all 3 of us hate losing to each other. And since I went 2-0 against Holy Cross, to go 5-0 against these 2 great programs in a year is amazing.”
The first round of the playoffs saw the Pirates host Point Pleasant Boro in what went from what looked like a blowout victory to a tight, 12-9 win.
The day after the opening-round victory, the Pirates claimed a share of the Freedom division title by taking down Pemberton 2-1 in a game that saw senior center fielder Nick Thevanayagam record his 100th career hit.
Cinnaminson would walk-off against New Egypt in a regular season game that week and then take down Delran in the second round of the playoffs.
Robbinsville came to town for the semi-final of the Central, Group 2 tournament after Memorial Day weekend. The Pirates were held to two hits in a 4-0 loss that ended their 2015 season.
“It is hard to judge an opponent since it really depends on a pitcher, so I will answer this by saying that the best pitcher we faced all year was the Robbinsville Pitcher Mike Fischer,” Merrill explained. “He was the only pitcher all season to shut us out and record 10 strikeouts while allowing the fewest baserunners in any game we had this season.”
With the end of the season comes the hardest part of the year; saying goodbye to the seniors. This squad has 10, but Merrill is proud of their work ethic and the shape they left the program in as they move to college.
“I spoke to them about this after our playoff loss, at the spring sports awards, and will address this again at our banquet, but this group of seniors was one of the best class I have ever coached. They molded our team into a big family and the hard work, leadership, and camaraderie they instilled is exactly what I want all the younger players to see and build upon for the future. This is the model I want each year and I hope each class moving forward can leave this type of foundation.”
Merrill offered his final thoughts on the 2015 season:
“I felt this season was a successful season, one that everyone on the team can be proud of, and we played hard the whole time. As far as pre-season goals, it is hard to achieve winning championships year after year, but even in our losses to RV in BCSL, and Robbinsville in our playoffs, we consistently competed and never gave up and we left everything out on the field this year. I am proud of these guys, and coming away with a Freedom Division Title and a #1 seed in the playoffs is something that all my players are happy with as well.”
