Brooklyn Cyclones Walk Off In Twelve Inning Coney Island Thriller

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

Hudson Valley and Brooklyn Tie; 3-3

I - HVR 4; BKN 3

II - BKN 14; HVR 0

III - HVR 6; BKN 1

IV - BKN 4; HVR 1

V - HVR 5; BKN 3

VI - BKN 6; HVR 5*

*12 inn

Hayden Senger Hits Game-Winning Three Run Home Run in Twelfth Inning

Sunday's game was about as wild and wacky as any attraction ever featured at Coney Island.

Hudson Valley nursed a precarious 1-0 through the first five innings.  Renegades starter Hayden Wesneski allowed just three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts through five innings pitched.  Cyclones starter Jose Butto equals his opponent innings pitched but exits on the losing side, allowing one run on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts.  

Right fielder Zach Ashford connects on a two-run home run off Nick Ernst, pitching in relief of Wesneski.  However, Allen Winans pitching in relief of Butto unleashes a wild pitch permitting the tying run to score from third base.  The score remains unchanged through the ninth.

After a scoreless tenth inning, Hudson Valley sub-in catcher Saul Torres promptly drives home the go-ahead run against reliever Josh Hejka, albeit unearned.  In the home eleventh, Antoine Duplantis is the ghost runner at second; he advances to third on Zach Ashford's grounder to second, then scores the tying run on Ronny Mauricio's base hit into left. 

Into the twelfth inning, they go ...

With one out, Renegades left fielder Eduardo Torrealba reaches safely on second baseman LT Strubel's misplay; ghost runner Frederick Cuevas scores on the play.  Then with two outs, Ezequiel Duran triples, giving Hudson Valley a 5-3 lead.

Brett Baty opens the bottom half of the twelfth as the ghost runner on second.  Facing Hudson Valley reliever Zach Greene, Luke Ritter strikeouts, but Strubel walks, putting two runners on base.  Catcher  Hayden Senger then steps in and deposits a Zach Greene offering over the left-field wall.  The Cyclones win in dramatic comeback fashion and salvage a split of the six-game series ...

... and the crowd goes crazy!  

Fuhgeddaboudit!

Don't worry, 15 strikeouts didn't escape me.  I know they went into extra innings, but they were already into double-digits in the ninth.

Brooklyn Cyclones: So Many Strikeouts, So Little Runs

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

Renegades lead Cyclones; 2-1

I - HVR 4; BKN 3

II - BKN 14; HVR 0

III - HVR 6; BKN 1

Three Hits, Fifteen Strikeouts, Fuhgeddaboudit ...

They weren't the Surf Avenue Sluggers on this night ... far from it.  Hudson Valley starter Luis Medina limits Brooklyn to one run on one hit - catcher Hayden Senger triples and scores on a double-play in the third.  Otherwise, Medina faces 19 batters and strikes out eleven through 5.2 innings pitched.  Relievers Elvis Peguero and Matt Minnick join for 3.1 scoreless innings allowing just two hits and fanning four.  That's fifteen strikeouts, folks!  They struck out eleven-time in game one.

• Ronny Mauricio extends his hitting streak to start the season to fourteen games.

Cyclones starter Jaison Vilera allows three runs, two earned, on three hits, including a home run by shortstop Ezequiel Duran, through five innings pitched.  Reliever Colby Morris fares worse, yielding three runs on four hits in one inning pitched.  

Brooklyn drops to 5-9 (.357) and now trails the series against the Hudson Valley Renegades, two games to one.

• Hudson Valley Renegades
• BROOKLYN CYCLONES

Late Hudson Valley Run Spoils Brooklyn Cyclones Home Opener

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

OPENING DAY
Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Our Brooklyn Cyclones are finally home.  The 2019 New York Penn League champions returned to their Coney Island grounds for the first time in twenty months or upwards of 600-plus days; pick your poison.  They've been promoted up in levels, and now play in the newly formed High-A East Division.  Brooklyn opened the season on the road.  For the first time in the respective team's histories, the Cyclones faced-off against the Asheville Tourists and the Greenville Drive.  Because of MiLB realignment, many members of the 2019 champions are returning for a second season in Brooklyn.  Among them are position players Brett Baty, Antione Duplantis, Joe Genord,  Luke Ritter, Jose Mena, and Jake Mangum.  From the pitching ranks, returning hurlers include Dan Goggin,  Andrew Edwards, Mitch Ragan, Brian Metoyer, Josh Hejka, Alec Kisena, Jaison Vilera, and Josh Walker.

HUDSON VALLEY RENEGADES

vs.

BROOKLYN CYCLONES

FROM

Old Steeplechase Grounds

Let the rivalry begin!  The Hudson Valley Renegades are by no means strangers to Brooklyn.  Pandemic aside, this season marks the 20th year of competition between the two former New York Penn League member clubs.  But make no mistake, the playing field has changed.  The New York Yankees new affiliate is now the Cyclones chief rival.  Gone are the days of Brooklyn vs. Staten Island.  This is now about Kings County versus Dutchess County.  Better said, the battle for Downstate New York is on! 

Ceremonial First Pitch Thrown By Returning Champions

Andrew Edwards to Antoine Duplantis

FIRST PITCH

Jose Butto to Hayden Senger

Old Neighbors to the North Spoil Opening Day in Brooklyn

In the first game at Coney Island since the September 2019 championship series, the Hudson Valley Renegades outlast the host Cyclones in a see-saw battle at old Steeplechase grounds. 

• FINAL SCORE: HVR 4; BKN 3
• BOXSCORE #12: Tuesday, May 18, 2021

In the top of the third, Hudson Valley starter Hayden Wesneski unleashes a wild pitch permitting catcher Hayden Senger to score from third.  The score remains unchanged until the sixth when Renegade first baseman Kyle MacDonald homers off Cyclones starter Jose Butto with a man on base.  Brooklyn reclaims the lead on Joe Genord's two-run home run in the seventh scoring Brett Baty.  But Kyle MacDonald singles off reliever Nick MacDonald in the eighth, tying the game at three.  

Facing Andrew Edwards with two outs in the top of the ninth, Hudson Valley right fielder Pablo Oliveras connects for a run-scoring double giving the Renegades a 4-3 lead.  In the bottom of the ninth right-hander, Zach Greene retires Brooklyn in order to earn the win.  Cyclones' Andrew Edwards takes the loss.

Brooklyn Cyclones Win Season Opener at Historic McCormick Field

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

2001 ~ Twentieth Anniversary ~ 2021

BROOKLYN CYCLONES

New York-Penn League Champions

2019

It's been a long 508 days since the Brooklyn Cyclones last took the field.  On Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, they defeated the Lowell Spinners to capture their second-ever championship.  Afterwhich, baseball and society came to a grinding halt due to the COVID pandemic.  Major League Baseball then overhauled and realigned all of MiLB during the most recent off-season, completely changing the landscape.  Unless the league is restarted in the future, the Brooklyn Cyclones go down as the last New York Penn League champion.

• ROSTER: 2021 Brooklyn Cyclones

Brooklyn is now a long-season high-A affiliate.  One of the benefits, as a fan, is the higher level of competition and, of course, more games - 120 games to be exact.  Sadly, the days of Brooklyn versus Staten Island are over.  The Hudson Valley Renegades are now a New York Yankees affiliate, making the Dutchess County club Brooklyn's newest and biggest rival.  That is if you haven't already singled out as a next rival, the newly rebranded Jersey Shore Blue Claws (formerly Lakewood).  Joining Brooklyn and Hudson Valley from the former New York Penn League is the Aberdeen Ironbirds. 

HIGH-A EAST North Division:

• Brooklyn Cyclones (New York-Penn League)
• Hudson Valley Renegades (New York-Penn League)
• Aberdeen Ironbirds (New York-Penn League)
• Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League)
• Jersey Shore Blue Claws (South-Atlantic League)

HIGH-A EAST South Division:

• Ashville Tourists (South-Atlantic League)
• Greensboro Grasshoppers (South-Atlantic League)
• Hickory Crawdads (South-Atlantic League)
• Rome Braves (South-Atlantic League)
• Greenville Drive (Carolina League)
• Winston-Salem Dash (Carolina League)
• Bowling Green Hot Rods (Midwest League)

Due to COVID, this year's travel schedule is being limited to Hudson Valley, Jerse Shore, Aberdeen, Asheville, Greenville, and Wilmington.

SEASON OPENER

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Brooklyn Cyclones vs. ASHEVILLE TOURISTS

McCormick Field

North Carlina

Lefty Josh Walker Hurls a Gem

With Brooklyn staked to a 6-0 lead, Asheville finally connects for its base first hit in the sixth.  

So starts the 2021 regular season at the historic near-century old McCormick Field, the third-oldest minor league ballpark in America.

Receiving the privilege of making the season-opening start, Brooklyn manager Ed Blankmeyer hands the ball to southpaw Josh Walker who yields no hits through five innings pitched while walking only one and fanning eight.  Right-hander Eric Orze throws a scoreless sixth in relief of Walker but in the seventh, yields a lead-off home run to shortstop Freudis Nova.  

Third baseman Bret Baty spearheads the charge.  His first-inning single delivers home two runs.  But it's catcher Hayden Senger who strikes the mighty blow, a second-inning home run giving Brooklyn a 3-0 lead.  Center fielder Scott Ota's base hit in the third drives home second baseman Luke Ritter; then, with Senger at the plate and Ota standing at third, a balk is called, giving the Cyclones a five-run advantage.  Bret Baty follows with a double in the fourth driving in his third run of the game.

The Ashville Tourists finally get on the board on first baseman Scott Schreiber's seventh-inning home run against reliever Mitch Ragan.  However, in the top of the eighth, Tourists' reliever Yeremi Ceballos unleashes consecutive wild pitches allowing two more Brooklyn base runners to score.  But in the bottom of the eighth, Mitch Ragan surrenders a home run to left fielder Colin Barber.  Mitch Ragan pitches himself into more trouble in the ninth by loading the bases.  But he regroups to strike out the side, the last Asheville batter being Colin Barber.

Starter Josh Walker earns the victory.  Shortstop Ronny Mauricio is 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.  Brooklyn batters amass eleven hits while three Cyclones pitchers join to strike out 15 batters.

• BOXSCORE
  
• 5/4/21 - Hudson Valley 2; JERSEY SHORE 6