The Forest City Owls defeated the Peninsula Pilots two-games to-none to claim the 2009 Coastal Plain League championship.  The championship was the firs in the Owls’ brief two-year history.

Forest City won game one of the series behind the outstanding pitching of Ryan Arrowood (Appalachian State).  The big right-hander threw 8.0 innings, giving up just two hits and no runs.  He struck out six and walked to enroute to Forest City’s 5-1 win.

First baseman Brian Burton (Canisius) led the Owls offense by going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs scored,  and an RBI.  Center fielder Wade Moore (NC State) added a home run, a triple, and an RBI, while second baseman Andrew Ciencin (NC State) contributed two RBI on a fourth inning double.  Peninsula’s only run came on a first inning homerun by center fielder Brian Lamb (Clemson) off of starting pitcher Brian Breedlove (Lynchburg College).

It was pitching that led the way again in game two for Forest City.  Spencer Patton (SIU-Edwardsville) got the start and pitched 8.0 innings, allowing six hits, one run, 11 strike outs and two walks.  Robbie Andrews (Virginia Commonwealth) closed out the final inning for Forest City.

The Owls had a balanced hitting attack as four different players banged out two hits in the game.  First basemen Burton and left fielder Grant Buckner (West Virginia) each added an RBI to go with their two hits.  Pilots catcher Cory Brownsten (Pittsburgh) went 2-for-3 with an RBI to account for Penninsula’s only run.

The champioship victory capped off an incredible Coastal Plain League season for Forest City who went 45-9 in the reagular season, and 6-0 in the post season.  The Owls are currently the number one ranked team in the PG Crosschecker rankings of the top summer college league teams.  The second place finish for Peninsula was their third in the past four seasons.

More information is available on the Coastal Plain League website.

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