North Carolina State University Athletics
Maynard, Ciencin Help Steer Forest City To CPL Finals
8/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. — The summer college baseball season entered the stretch drive this week with league championship series beginning in all of the major summer leagues.
In the Coastal Plain League, NC State infielders Pratt Maynard and Andrew Ciencin will be on the field Wednesday night when the top-seeded Forest City Owls open the CPL’s Petit Cup Championship Series at second-seeded Peninsula. Maynard and Ciencin have played a huge role in Forest City’s extraordinary summer.
The Owls finished the regular season with an eye-popping 46-9 record, a league record for wins and 11 1/2 games better than any other team in the CPL in 2009. Maynard batted .318 with 16 doubles, four home runs and 38 RBIs. He ranked among the league leaders in average (9th), doubles (2nd) and RBIs (top 10). The CPL does not include postseason games in its final statistics.
Ciencin joined the Owls at midseason and fit right into Forest City’s juggernaut of a lineup, batting .298 with three doubles, two home runs and 15 RBIs in 28 games. The Owls led the CPL in hitting with a .278 team average, 10 points better than any other team in the league.
In Forest City’s three postseason games — the Owls are the only unbeaten team in the CPL playoffs — Maynard is 6-for-12 with five RBIs and five doubles. He has scored four times. Ciencin is 6-for-13 with a double and an RBI.
Forest City will play on the road at War Memorial Stadium in game one on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. The Owls will host the Pilots at McNair Field on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. If necessary, Forest City would host game three on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Forest City and Peninsula are meeting for the first time this season and have only played once over the last two years.
Forest City defeated three-time defending champion Thomasville in a single-elimination contest and then swept the Fayetteville SwampDogs in a best-of-three second-round series.
The Owls are the No.1 ranked summer baseball team in the country according to Perfect Game Crosschecker, and are two wins away from their first CPL Petitt Cup championship. Forest City can become the first Coastal Plain League team ever to win Perfect Game Crosschecker’s mythical national championship.
The Petit Cup Finals: Forest City vs. Peninsula (Best 2-of-3)
• Game 1: Wednesday, August 12: Forest City (Bryan Breedlove, 8-1, 2.57 ERA) at Peninsula (Tyler Misaim, 5-1, 1.98 ERA), 7:05 p.m.
• Game 2: Thursday, August 13: Peninsula (Kyle Hallock, 5-2, 4.33 ERA) at Forest City (Ryan Arrowood, 10-0, 1.88), 7:05 p.m.
• Game 3, if necessary: Friday August 14: Peninsula (Matthew Fouch, 4-2, 3.71 ERA) at Forest City (Spencer Patton, 9-0, 1.46), 7:05 p.m.
