North Carolina State University Athletics
Forest City Repeats As CPL Champions
8/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Aug. 16, 2010
The summer college baseball season is over, and for the second year in a row the leading story line for NC State was the Forest City Owls winning the Coastal Plain League championship.
With catcher Danny Canela, infielder Andrew Ciencin and outfielder Tarran Senay playing key roles, the Owls became the first team in CPL history to repeat as league champions, downing the Edenton Steamers two games to one in the Petitt Cup finals. The Owls finished 2010 with an overall record of 43-21; 94-30 the last two years.
Of NC State’s Forest City quartet — righthander Chris Overman made two appearances on the mound for the Owls — Senay made the biggest contribution in the championship series, belting two home runs and driving in four runs in the Owls’ 8-0 romp in the series opener at Edenton. Senay batted just .200 in the playoffs for Forest City, but led the team with three home runs and eight RBIs in eight postseason games.
Ciencin, who was the starting second baseman for Forest City’s 2009 national championship juggernaut, also batted .200 in the playoffs, but homered and drove in four runs. In addition, Ciencin may have stabilized the Owls lineup. They were a respectable 25-16 when he returned to Forest City after a month with Harwich in the Cape Cod League. Forest City lost Ciencin’s first game back, 8-7 to rival Gastonia, then went 17-4 the rest of the way when he was in the lineup. Over the last two years, Forest City was 46-10 when Ciencin was in the lineup, an .821 winning percentage.
Canela batted .261 in the playoffs, and also handled a pitching staff that dominated the postseason competition. Owls pitchers fashioned a 1.65 ERA in eight postseason games and limited opposing hitters to a .197 batting average.
Canela also hit safely in every postseason game but one, going 0-for-3 in the championship game. That snapped a 17-game hitting streak for Canela, who batted .383 (23-for-60) with nine doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs during the streak.
