The 2016 Cinnaminson softball season gets underway today at 11am, weather permitting, at Holy Cross. No matter what happens with the weather, here is our 2016 season preview of the Pirates softball team.
Last season the Pirates went 11-12 overall and advanced to the second round of the Central, Group 2 Tournament. The Pirates defeated Spotswood 7-2 in the opening round for the second straight year in 2015.
“It’s a huge confidence builder to know that you can travel that distance and still come out with a win,” head coach Tracy Bart said. “It doesn’t necessarily matter where you are seeded. That your hard work throughout the season can payoff in the end.”
Cinnaminson graduated two seniors after the 2015 season, Delani Pecchioli and Shannon Profy, both of whom were regulars in the outfield and on the mound, respectively.
There aren’t many seniors on this year’s squad either, so youth will be in the lineup for another season. The three on the team have been named captains; Olivia Pestridge, Morgan Hawk and Brooke Figiel.
“They’ve been varsity players for the last couple years,” Bart said. “Their leadership plays a huge role with the younger kids with what our expectations are and where we want the program to go. They’ve done a really nice job.”
Cinnaminson softball plays in one of the toughest divisions (Patriot) in Burlington County. It is home to defending champion Bordentown, Delran, Florence and Pemberton.
“We want to have a strong outing right from the start,” Bart said. “One of our goals is to try to get a home playoff game this season. We lost a lot of games last year by one run. We understand the importance of having a strong offense.”
“We struggled a little bit with offense last year. We are a year older, a year wiser, a year stronger, so we hope that comes this year with the hard work they put in over the winter.”
This means that the Pirates schedule will be tough as usual, but having tough opponents during the regular season prepares the players for what’s to come in the state tournament.
“It definitely makes us better and I think it makes us better come playoff time because the level of competition we see in the regular season is sometimes higher than what we see in the playoffs,” Bart said. “We always say, ‘to be the best, you have to beat the best.’ You gotta play the stronger teams to do that.”
A large number of players took part in a winter workout program run by the seniors at an indoor facility in-town and Coach Bart is pleased with what they accomplished.
“I can already see coming into the season the girls are much more fundamentally prepared for the season,” Bart said. “It’s nice to see. You can tell they put a lot of hard work in during the offseason. It translates. You can see it in their play.”
First pitch of the 2016 Cinnaminson softball season is scheduled for 11am today at Holy Cross.
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