Peninsula Pilots
| Peninsula Pilots | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| League | Coastal Plain League (East) |
| Location | Hampton, Virginia |
| Ballpark | War Memorial Stadium |
| Year founded | 2000 |
| Petitt Cup championships | 2013, 2014 |
| Division championships | 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014 |
| Colors | Orange, Navy Blue, and Light Blue |
| Mascot | Slyder |
| Ownership | Henry Morgan |
| Management | Jeff Scott (GM) |
| Coach | Hank Morgan |
| Website | www.peninsulapilots.com |
The Peninsula Pilots are an amateur baseball team in the Coastal Plain League, collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at the War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, Virginia. The Pilots first started participating in the Coastal Plain League in 2000. The Pilots are coached by Hank Morgan, a former player at Virginia Military Institute and Christopher Newport University.
The Pilots have played in five Petit Cup Finals in their Coastal Plain League existence. They made it to back-to-back Petitt Cup Finals in 2006 & 2007, losing both times to the High Point-Thomasville HiToms, 6-1 and 4-3 respectively. The Pilots returned to the final in 2009 after winning the North Division where they faced the Forest City Owls and lost in two games. In 2013 and 2014, Peninsula broke through and won back-to-back titles, winning 2-0 and 2-1 over Columbia and Florence respectively. The Pilots set a team record for wins in 2014 when they won the second half East title and the top overall seed in the East. The Pilots are tied for the second most league titles in CPL history with the Edenton Steamers, Outer Banks Daredevils, Wilmington Sharks, and Forest City Owls, all of whom including Peninsula won their titles in consecutive years. The record is three which is held by the High Point-Thomasville HiToms who won three straight.
The 2013 Pilots ended the regular season as the 2nd seed in the East behind the Edenton Steamers. The Pilots opened the playoffs hosting the 3 seed Wilmington Sharks. After allowing the Sharks to come back and win game 1 in Wilmington the Pilots won games 2 and 3 to move on to the next round. In the East Division Championship Series the Pilots faced the 1 seed Edenton Steamers who beat the Fayetteville Swampdogs to advance. The Pilots beat their rivals in 3 games to advance to the Petit Cup Championship. The Pilots made their fourth appearance in the CPL's championship series where they played the Columbia Blowfish and won the series in two games. Game 1 was played at home and ended in a Pilots walk-off win 5-4 on Alex Close's RBI in 10 innings. Game 2 was postponed due to rain in Columbia, SC and was shortened to 7 innings to accommodate the if necessary game 3. Game 2 also went into extra innings ending in 8 innings 2-1 on a Jordan Negrini RBI.
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