Phil Cerreto (Longwood) Martinsville
Cerreto was a constant offensive force for the Mustangs in 2009. He started 51-of-53 games played for Martinsville and finished with an impressive .351 batting average – third highest in the league. Cerreto also finished first in the CPL with 72 hits, which is good for sixth all-time in a single season in league history. He also finished among the league leaders on the season in doubles (16 - tied for second), triples (four - tied for fourth) and home runs (eight – fifth)
More impressive, however, is that he had an eye-opening 120 total bases, which 19 better than anyone else in the league, and just one shy of the CPL record of 121 shared by Jason Dubois (Rocky Mount, 1998) and Kevin Mahoney (Forest City, 2008).
Cerreto also finished tied for fourth in the league with 40 RBIs, while scoring 33; and tacked on a .585 slugging percentage to go with a .396 on-base percentage. Opposing pitchers walked him 16 times and Cerreto was a perfect 12-of-12 in stolen bases.
In addition to his total bases and hits being ranked among the Top 10 single season bests in Coastal Plain League history, Cerreto’s slugging percentage of .585 was good enough for ninth place.
While the Mustangs finished with a 22-34 record, Cerreto turned in a team-MVP performance almost nightly. He was selected as a Coastal Plain League All-Star, starting at first base for the 2009 CPL National All-Star squad in Wilmington, N.C. During the All-Star Fan Fest the night before, Cerreto connected on eight home runs to win the 2009 CPL All-Star Home Run Derby crown.
2009 Rawlings Hitters of the Week
Hitter of the Week (Week 9):
Dan Williams (Pennsylvania) Edenton (Week 9)
2010 Rawlings CPL Co-Defensive Player of the Year:
Ryan Arrowood (Appalachian State) Forest City
Arrowood (Appalachian State) and Patton (SIU-Edwardsville) were untouchable all season long, combining to go 19-0 for the Owls in the regular season and then tacking on another 4-0 record in the playoffs, including pitching back-to-back gems against the Peninsula Pilots in the championship series to help give Forest City its first-ever Petitt Cup crown and the No. 1 ranking in the country by PG Crosschecker.
Arrowood, a freshman from Rutherfordton, N.C., made a total of 10 appearances, all starts, on the mound this summer for the Owls and didn’t disappoint. Overall, the 6-3, 181-pound right-hander, finished the regular season with a 10-0 record and a low 1.88 ERA. His 10 wins tied Brian Adams (Rocky Mount, 1998) for most in a regular season in the CPL. Arrowood also featured two complete games, and also combined to get two shutouts.
In 72 complete innings pitched, he allowed 16 runs – 15 earned – on 52 hits, while walking a mere 17 and striking out 64. Arrowood also held opposing batters to a respectable .204 average against him, and featured a WHIP of 0.96 on the regular season.
2010 Rawlings CPL Co-Defensive Player of the Year:
Spencer Patton (SIU-Edwardsville) Forest City
Patton, a junior from Kinmundy, Ill., also earned the respect of opposing teams quickly. The 6-1, 175-pound righty went 9-0 with a highly respected 1.46 ERA – second-best in the league on the summer. In 11 starts on the mound, Patton hurled three complete games, including one shutout on June 17 in game two of a doubleheader against Martinsville.
He worked 74 complete innings, giving up just 16 runs – 12 earned – on 50 hits and walked 22. But what grabbed hitters’ eyes quickly was his ability to strike them out with ease, as Patton recorded a league-best 110 strikeouts to surpass Matt Jansen’s (Outer Banks, 1999) strikeout record of 108. Furthermore, opposing batters batted a lousy .192 against him, and he finished the regular season with a 0.97 WHIP.
Both of them earned spots in the 2009 Coastal Plain League All-Star Game for the American CPL All-Star team. Patton started the game and walked one and struck out one in an inning, while Arrowood pitched an inning of one-hit baseball with a walk in the fourth. Furthermore, Patton was named as a Rawlings Co-Pitcher of the Week during week one of action.
With Arrowood and Patton leading the way on the mound, Forest City easily won the West First and Second Half Divisional crowns in 2009, and broke the CPL record for most wins in a regular season with 46. Such achievements allowed the Owls to enter the 2009 CPL Petitt Cup Playoffs as the top seed and they went a perfect 5-0 to win their first-ever CPL championship.
And in the playoffs neither of them disappointed. Arrowood went 2-0 with a 1.29 postseason ERA, striking out 10 in 14 innings, while Patton followed suit with a 2-0 record of his own, 3.07 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings pitched.
2009 Rawlings Pitchers of the Week
Pitcher of the Week (Week 9):
Robert Jeroszko (College of Charleston) Gastonia (Week 9)