North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Pipeline Alive In Forest City
7/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
July 27, 2010
(Note: This is the fifth of periodic reports on current NC State players in summer baseball. All stats are through games of July 26.)
RALEIGH, N.C. — Thanks in large part to NC State’s Pratt Maynard and Andrew Ciencin, the Forest City Owls tore up the Coastal Plain League last year, winning 51 of 60 games and romping to the league championship. At summer’s end, Perfect Game USA crowned Forest City its 2009 summer league national champion.
The NC State connection is alive and well in Forest City in 2010. Ciencin returned to Forest City on July 10 after a three-week stay in the Cape Cod League and immediately settled in at third base. He joined Wolfpack outfielder Tarran Senay and catcher Danny Canela with the Owls, and while this year’s Forest City squad is not the juggernaut the ‘09 model was, fans in Forest City are enjoying a heated pennant race this summer. Ciencin, Canela and Senay are playing pivotal roles.
Forest City won the first half in the CPL’s West Division with a 17-11 record, two games ahead of the Gastonia Grizzlies. After games of July 26, the Grizzlies led the second half by 2 1/2 games over the Owls. Both teams were looking up at the Wilson Tobs for best overall record in the league. Wilson, first-half winner in the East, was 33-18 overall. Gastonia was 32-17. Forest City was 31-17. Forest City and Gastonia are scheduled to play Tuesday evening in Gastonia. They will complete a suspended game and then play a nine-inning regularly scheduled game.
Monday night in Forest City, T.J. Clarkson of Thomasville took a no-hitter into the sixth inning vs. the Owls, but Forest City’s offense came alive in the sixth thanks in large part to its three NC State regulars. Senay ended the no-hitter with a leadoff double to right-center, and that sparked what proved to be a game-winning three-run rally.
With the two outs, the bases loaded and Owls down 2-0, Ciencin took a pitch off his left hip to force in the first Forest City run of the game. Canela was up next, and he lined a single into left field to bring home two more runs to give the Owls the lead. Forest City never looked back and rolled to the 7-2 victory.
Clarkson’s no-hit bid was hardly without its blemishes. He walked five in 5 2/3 innings, and Thomasville pitchers combined to walk nine Forest City batters. Seven of those nine walks went to Senay and Canela. Senay walked four times, Canela three.
Ciencin has added a spark to the Forest City lineup since his return, batting .344 (11-for-32) with two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs in nine games. Senay is hitting .303 (27-for-89) with eight doubles, one homer, one homer, 12 RBIs and seven steals in 29 games, many of them as the Owls’ leadoff hitter.
Canela currently is riding an eight-game hitting streak that has lifted his overall average to .287 (27-for-94). He is batting .448 (13-for-29) with six doubles, a home run and seven RBIs during his eight-game hitting streak. For the season, Canela has 10 doubles, two homers and 12 RBIs in 28 games.
Riggins Keeps On Mashing In The Northwoods League
Wolfpack first baseman Harold Riggins has been consistently excellent for the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League this summer. Riggins hit his eighth homer of the season Monday night, a three-run shot in the ninth inning that tied Riggins for the league lead in homers and, more importantly, blew open a close game and helped lift Madison to a 9-5 win over Wisconsin.
Madison is one game behind Eau Claire for the second-half lead in the NWL’s South Division, and Maynard’s hot hitting is one of the main reasons the Mallards are in the race. Over the last eight games, Riggins is hitting .444 (12-for-27) with five doubles, a home run and 12 RBIs. Not surprisingly, Madison won seven of those eight games.
For the season he is batting .367 with nine doubles, eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 34 games. He missed the first 15 games of the season, yet is tied for the league lead in home runs, leads the league in slugging at .625, is fourth in batting average and fifth with a .467 on-base percentage.
Riggins has gotten so hot that opposing pitchers have become especially careful with him, and he has taken advantage. Riggins has drawn nine walks in his last 22 plate appearances.
Riggins extended his league-leading consecutive on-base streak to 34 games with a first-inning walk during the Monday win over Wisconsin.
Cape League All-Star Game Is Wednesday
Wolfpack catcher Pratt Maynard will be the starting catcher for the East Division in the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game, which will be played Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Boston’s Fenway Park. The game will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports, which is available from most satellite providers and digital cable outlets. Check local listings to see if the game is carried by your local cable or satellite provider.
Maynard is hitting .244 with five doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs in 31 games for the Harwich Mariners. Maynard has drawn 27 walks and leads the league in that category, seven ahead of the competition. Thanks to the walks, he has a .419 on-base percentage, which is second in the Cape League.
Mathews Heating Up In Alaska
Ryan Mathews was something of a forgotten man for the Wolfpack in 2010. Sidelined by injuries early in the year, the juco transfer played in just six games, batting .385 with a double, a home run and three RBIs.
Mathews is healthy and playing this summer for Athletes In Action in the Alaska League. After a slow start, Mathews has gone on a bit of a tear for AIA, hitting .370 (10-for-27) with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs in his last eight games.
For the summer, Mathews is batting .248 with 10 doubles, two home runs and 20 RBIs. He has 19 walks and sports a .351 on-base percentage and a .413 slugging percentage.
Following are the summer assignments for NC State players in 2010:
Cape Cod League (http://www.capecodbaseball.org)
Pratt Maynard - Harwich Mariners
Rob Chamra - Falmouth Commodores
Coastal Plain League (http://www.coastalplain.com)
Andrew Ciencin - Forest City Owls
Danny Canela - Forest City Owls
Terran Senay - Forest City Owls
Chris Overman - Forest City Owls
Chris Diaz - Outer Banks Daredevils
Vance Williams - Outer Banks Daredevils
Chris Schaeffer - Morehead City Marlins
Ethan Ogburn - Thomasville Hi-Toms
Northwoods League (http://www.northwoodsleague.com)
Harold Riggins - Madison Mallards
Nick Rice - Madison Mallards
Valley League (http://www.valleyleaguebaseball.com)
Grant Sasser - Haymarket Senators
New England Collegiate Baseball League (http://www.necbl.com)
John Gianis - Danbury Westerners
Texas Collegiate League (http://www.texascollegiateleague.com)
Nate King - McKinney Marshalls
Mike Clark - McKinney Marshalls
Alaska Baseball League (http://www.alaskabaseballleague.org)
Ryan Mathews - AIA Fire
