2014 Cicero Pirates Win for Sixth Time in LaGrange MABL

By Men's Senior Baseball League | April 13, 2014

LaGrange MABL

Cicero Pirates 8, Stallions 2

Back row – Dan Bocian, Anthony Cunniff, Kevin Kucharczyk, Danny Sanchez, Hugo Munoz, Jay Cunniff, David Beltran, Chris Gonzalez, Adam Sanchez, Jake Stano, Luis Resto, Jose Alanis and Cory Blake

Front row – League President Chuck Mally, Brian Mladek, Ray Castro, Dan Pedretti, Joe Pantoja, Joe Carbone, and Armand Gordon.Submitted by Ray Castro, Pirates manager

The Cicero Pirates have been playing in the LaGrange (IL) MABL for the last 19 years, beginning in 1996 as the Brookfield Pirates. We won our first Championship in 1999, followed up by a second place finish in 2000. I officially took over in 2003 and we fell short finishing in second that year. Beginning with the summer of 2006 we won five straight (2006-2010) LaGrange MABL titles. We slipped in 2011 not making the finals but rebounded with a strong second place finish in 2012. In 2013 we found ourselves back on top with our sixth title in eight years. This past summer we went back to back as repeat champs for 2014 for our seventh title in nine years. In our 19 year history in the LaGrange MABL, we have…

  • 8 Championships (1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014)
  • 3 2nd place finishes (2000, 2003, and 2012)
This year we started off slow, 1-2, and then we rattled off 18 straight wins to finish the regular season with a 19-2 record. We went into the playoffs as the #1 seed and quickly defeated the #8 seeded Bulldogs by a score of 12-2. Our second round match-up versus the #4 Whooligans was a hotly contested game with us pulling away in the last inning for an 8-5 victory. The semifinal match-up vs. the #3 Outlaws was also a tight affair with us coming out on top 6-3. We went into the final undefeated and facing the #5 Stallions. After playing five close innings we pulled away for a decisive 8-2 victory and back to back championships. We finished the season 23-2 and a 22 game win streak.

I’m the only player left from the original team from 1996 and I’m proud to say I’ve played every year in this great league! Chuck Mally does a great job putting this all together.

Can’t wait for 2015!!!
Ray Castro, Cicero Pirates
Posted in League Champions