Looking for their league-leading 19th title, the Cinnaminson Reds fell short of an RVL repeat in 2016.
Cinnaminson rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-five championship series versus Vincentown in 2015 to win their 18th crown 3-2.
The 2016 season got off to a great start for the Reds, who walked off against Willingboro in the opener.
The win would be the first of 22 for the Reds, who finished the year 22-6 and tied for first with Burlington.
Including the post-season, the Reds went 25-8 for the year.
“I was very pleased,” player-manager Frank Sirolli said. “It was heavy at the top this year. Three teams finished 22-6 and I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before.”
2016 was Sirolli’s first year as manager.
“Every game’s a learning experience. I could have definitely filled out our roster a little better. We were on the short side going into the year. I have to make sure when the season starts we have 25 guys.”
The Reds reeled off an eight game win streak and a 10-game win streak during the season to keep pace with both Burlington and Vincentown down the stretch.
“We had all three phases going well during those streaks. I don’t really remember blowing anybody out of the water,” Sirolli said.
“They were all tight games. It was just good baseball. We got timely hitting, good starts and strong defense.”
The league year opened with eight teams as Delran returned, but dropped to seven as Willingboro folded midway through the season.
All seven teams made the post-season, with Cinnaminson drawing Delran in the opening round.
The Reds swept the best-of-three series 2-0.
Cinnaminson then took on Vincentown in the semifinals.
The Reds won the opener 3-1, but lost the final two games 8-0 and 12-5.
Vincentown got its revenge for the finals loss to the Reds in 2015 and went on to sweep Riverside for the crown this year.
Cinnaminson enjoyed a stellar season despite having one of the smaller rosters in the league.
Each team is permitted 25 players on their roster and Cinnaminson played a large portion of the year with 19.
Much of the team’s pitching depth from 2015 did not return, but that did not phase the Reds as Jim Goodwin (6-2, 3 S, 2.45 ERA) and Troy Hunter (5-0, 2.01 ERA) stepped up immensely.
Goodwin led the league in wins and saves.
Goodwin is a veteran of the league, while Hunter enjoyed a strong rookie campaign.
“Hunter pitched a lot of games for us. He was new this year and had a good year,” Sirolli said.
“He’s a young kid. He never complained. Never asked why he wasn’t pitching against another team and when asked to pitch he went out there and competed hard.”
The Reds pitching staff finished second in the league with a 2.30 ERA and tied for a league high with four saves.
“Goodwin was probably fourth on our pitching depth chart last year and became the ace this year,” Sirolli said. “He took the ball and pitched a lot of our big games for us.”
Per the norm, the Reds boasted one of the league’s best offenses, scoring a total of 158 runs.
“We had a lot of guys that hit well this year,” Sirolli said. “John Dockins (.350) had another good year for us. Bill Dove (.329) had another good year.”
Sirolli led the team with a .367 batting average, good for sixth in the league.
The Reds had five players finish in the top 20 of the league in hitting, tied for most in the league with Burlington.
Sirolli offered his final thoughts on the 2016 campaign:
“We were young, understaffed from the pitching department, and night in and night out we went out there and got wins with 19 guys on the roster. It was a grind every night. We were able to win a lot of games this year with what we had.”
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