This past weekend the Cinnaminson 14U softball team won the 2016 McKeever Tournament at Wood Park. The tourney was hosted by Cinnaminson and included some 70 teams this year.
Fields at Wood Park, at Cinnaminson High School, in Palmyra and at the Wesley Bishop Fields in Moorestown were utilized throughout the weekend.
The 14U team entered the weekend at 32-0 (since September) and proceeded to win all seven games played between Saturday and Sunday.
“It seems like the girls just bonded together,” head coach Rich Onorato said. “There’s never a doubt in their mind that there isn’t a situation where they won’t come out on top. Whenever something needs to be done, someone always steps up and gets the job done.”
The weekend kicked off with the girls winning four games on Saturday after only being scheduled to play three. The team played a fourth game because a team backed out of the tourney.
Cinnaminson won its game on Saturday by scores of 7-2, 18-4, 8-0 and 10-2.
Across the four games played Saturday the 14U team allowed a total of eight runs and scored 43. The team’s offense and pitching were on display, but so was the team’s defense, which was very solid throughout the weekend.
“We give up very limited runs,” Onorato said of the team’s defense. “When we put our best defense out there, it’s very rare that we give up more than one or two runs in a game. We just have to manufacture a couple of runs and we put ourselves in a position to win.”
By going undefeated in pool play the team earned the #1 seed in the championship round Sunday.
Cinnaminson opened play Sunday at 36-0 and won the quarterfinal (Lady Ducks) and semifinal (Pal-Riv Hurricanes) games to advance to the final late in the day.
The 14U team defeated Delran 2-1 to win the McKeever Tournament and move their record to 39-0.
“What I saw this weekend was a no-die attitude. The pressure wasn’t too much for them. It was a long day on Saturday,” Onorato said.
“We struggled more than we normally would, but it was a long weekend. When we needed to, the girls rose up to the occasion when a defensive play needed to be made, to get a bunt down or do different jobs throughout the game.”
The league playoffs begin this coming weekend and the 14U team will be the #1 seed and play the winner of the #8 versus #9 game, which is being played this week.
Cinnaminson finished the regular season of the UGSA Softball League with a 12-0 record after beating Moorestown (8-2) by a 5-2 score in the regular season finale. The 14U team was named the regular season champions of the league with the 12-0 record.
“I hope that they see that teams are coming after us, so we have to be on top of our game right from the beginning,” Onorato said. “We can’t lay down. We have to be strong from the start with fundamental softball and making routine plays.”
Cinnaminson’s first league playoff game will be Saturday, June 11 at 7:30pm at Wood Park on Field #3.
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