BKN Cyclones ~ The Boys Are Back In Town; Tame Tigers

From the desk of:   THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Open Home Stand

With 3-2 Win Over Connecticut Tigers.

Brandon Nimmo Thriving In The Lead-Off Spot.

The Boardwalk Bum were back on the beach Wednesday evening taking on the Connecticut Tigers.  Gabriel Ynoa made the start for Coney Island, and lasted long enough to leave on the winning side of a low scoring affair.


The Cyclones jumped out to an early 2-0 first inning lead.  Brandon Nimmo led the inning off with a single against Tigers' starter, Charles Gillies.  Phillip Evans reached safely on a fielder's choice wiping out Nimmo.  Then after Jayce Boyd drew a walk,  Kevin Plawecki doubled to drive home both runners.  The Tigers tied the score with two runs in the fourth on a walk and a pair of doubles off Gabriel Ynoa.


The Cyclones' hurler pitched six full innings, allowed five hits, and two earned runs.  He struck out five and walked two.  Coach Donnelly then summoned his first pitcher out of the bullpen; Matthew Koch; who turned in two innings of scoreless baseball.  Tyler Vanderheiden pitched the ninth inning, had some troubles with control, but closed out the Tigers en route to his seventh save of the season.  Gabriel Ynoa improved his record to 3-1 on the season.


The difference maker of the game came in the fifth inning.  Brandon Nimmo got involved again with a lead off single.  After advancing to second, he scored the go-ahead and what turned out to be the winning run on a E-5 off the bat of Jayce Boyd.


Seven games ago, Coach Donnelly inserted Brandon Nimmo into the lead-off position for game one of their road trip, and he has batted .393 since that time.  Now that the Brooks are back home, Coach kept him there.  The Cyclones' center fielder had two hits in four at-bats Wednesday night against Connecticut.  And in his last three games, he has nine hits in fifteen at-bats, which is good for a .600 batting clip.


The Cyclones needed the victory to keep pace because the Hudson Valley Renegades won again, this time over the State College Spikes.  That keeps Brooklyn two games behind the Renegades in the McNamara Division race.  The Cyclones lead the Wild Card race however, by 1.5 games over the Batavia Muckdogs.





Mike.BTB