Brooklyn Cyclones: Overcome Five Errors For Third Straight Win

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

 

 

SHOWDOWN IN THE VALLEY
 

 

 

GAME ONE FINAL:

Cyclones     7

Renegades  4

 

GAME TWO:

Thursday @ Coney Island

 

 

BROOKLYN CYCLONES;
So Far The Brooks Are 3-0 During Final Ten Game Stretch.
Flaky Defense Needs To Shape Up, Quick!

GAINING GROUND ON HUDSON VALLEY RENEGADES
 

SEVEN GAMES LEFT IN REGULAR SEASON;
 

McNAMARA DIVISION:

Hudson Valley....46-23   *

CYCLONES........42-27   4 games back

 

WILD CARD:

CYCLONES     *
Muckdogs........2 games back

Before the Staten Island Yankees provided Coney Island with an assist, Brooklyn's visit to Hudson Valley was shaping up to be an inconsequential trip.  As of Sunday, the Cyclones fell seven games behind the first place Renegades in the McNamara Division race.  Then, the Bombers swept two games from Hudson Valley, and Brooklyn did the same against the Iron Birds.  Suddenly, with eight games remaining and five games to make up, Brooklyn's head to head match up against the Renegades turned out to be exactly what the doctor ordered.


So game on!


On the hill, Gabriel Ynoa opposed Hudson Valley starter, Taylor Guerrieri.  Both hurlers pitched five complete innings.  However, Gabriel Ynoa exited on the losing side of a 2-1 game.  In his five innings of work, he allowed two runs, but only one earned.  He issued one walk and surrendered four hits, while striking out four batters.  In Taylor Guerrieri's five innings, he allowed one hit, one run, and struck out four.


Hudson Valley wasted no time scoring in the first inning.  Gabriel Ynoa hurt his own cause issuing two walks.  The Renegades took a 1-0 lead on a fielder's choice.  Brooklyn tied the game in their next at-bat.  Alexander Sanchez led off the top of the second with a double.  He too, eventually scored on a fielder's choice.  In the third inning, two Brooklyn errors conspired to give Hudson Valley a 2-1 lead.


The respective bullpens took over and kept things quiet in the sixth.  For Brooklyn, Logan Taylor was called in to pitch, while Hudson Valley handed the ball off to Jordan Harrison.


In the seventh inning Jordan Harrison blinked, and the Cyclones bats struck.  Phillip Evans led off with a single.  Then Alex Sanchez, Jayce Boyd, and Malkis De La Cruz, all doubled to help give the 'Clones a 5-2 lead.  With that, Harrison was off to the showers.  Next in from the Renegades bullpen came Rob Finneran, who closed out the frame preventing further damage.  He wasn't as lucky in the eighth inning though.  Brooklyn had their way with him shortly.  After Finneran hit Gavin Cecchini with a pitch, the next batter, Jayce Boyce, answered back with his fifth home run of the season.


Coach Donnelly sent Logan Taylor out for a third inning of work.  However, the pitcher did not finish.  Two hits and an E-4 by Jeff Reynolds got Taylor bounced from the game.  Beck Wheeler was called in next, and promptly issued an RBI double, making it a 7-4 game.


The Cyclones went down quietly in the top of the ninth.  Coach Donnelly then summoned Tyler Vanderheiden to oppose Hudson Valley's attempts at last licks.  The Cyclones closer performed flawlessly, retiring the Renegades in order.  Tyler earned his eleventh save of the season, and Logan Taylor received credit for his second win in relief.


Hudson Valley's McNamara Division lead over the Cyclones is now down to four games with seven left to play.  There is still hope for a division flag Cyclones fans.  It's a slim chance, but stranger things have happened.


In the other race, unfortunately for Brooklyn the Muckdogs won again!  Batavia is 8-2 in their last ten games and winners of four in a row.  As a result, the Cyclones Wild Card lead over the Muckdogs remains at two games.  However, I'm consumed by a sense of Who is chasing Who?  Down the stretch, the Cyclones are now winners of three in a row, but are only 6-4 in their last ten.


On a side note, if you have a bunch of disposable income laying around, and you can find someone who will give you odds, bet everything that Coach Donnelly will have his team outside early in the morning going through extra fielding drills tomorrow.  Especially at this point of the season, it's better to be proactive, than taking no action at all.  Wednesday night's game must have infuriated the manager.  The Brooks committed five errors in the game.  An error in the eighth inning could have been ruinous.  They have now committed eight errors in the last four games.  And that simply will not do - Not with seven games left in the season, and not with the Muckdogs biting at Brooklyn's heals.


The 2012 Cyclones have been cut out of an old Earl Weaver mold.  Saying they play stationary baseball is an understatement.  They are dead last in the league in stolen bases, and rank second to last in team batting average.  Yet, the Bums lead the New York Penn League in walks, and rank second in home runs.  Completing the Weaver equation, the Cyclones possess the best starting rotation in all the circuit.   So the final seven games of the Wild Card race would be a horrible time for their defense to fail them.  More pressing, their attention to detail must not escape them.




Mike.BTB

Brooklyn Cyclones: Begin Final Playoff Push With Win In Aberdeen

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:

Tyler Vanderheiden Gives Mates a Ninth Inning Scare.

Brooks Hold On For Win In Series Opener Versus Aberdeen.

 

Nine Games Left In Regular Season; Lead Wild Card By 2.5 Games

The countdown has begun.  Heading into Monday, ten games remained in the regular season.  And due to inconsistent play of late, Brooklyn's hold on the Wild Card has been slipping.  The Cyclones once led the Wild Card by as many as seven games.  Entering Monday's action, their lead had  dwindled down to two.


This week's schedule called for a road trip to Maryland.  And so, the Surf Avenue Sluggers were in Aberdeen tonight.  To open the series, Brooklyn's ace, Rainy Lara, was opposed by Iron Bird's starter, Lex Rutledge.


Through the first two innings, all remained quiet.  Then in the third, Brooklyn struck for the game's first run against Rutledge.  Cyclones second baseman, Richie Rodriguez, led off the inning with a single, then came around and scored when Dimas Ponce grounded into a fielder's choice.  Pitcher Lex Rutledge was removed after just three innings however.  Aside from the one run allowed, Aberdeen's starter only walked one batter and struck out four.


In the sixth inning, Brooklyn scored again, this time off Jamie Esquivel, who pitched four innings in relief of Lex Rutledge.  Jayce Boyd connected on his third home run of the season to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead.


Rainy Lara completed six full innings of shutout ball and left on the winning side.  He allowed three scattered hits, walked one, and struck out four batters.  Matthew Koch was first out of the bullpen, and pitched himself into some trouble over 1.2 innings.  After surrendering a double in the eighth, Coach Donnelly turned to David Wynn, who finished out the frame, and kept the game scoreless.


Then, into the ninth inning they went.  In the top half, Brooklyn failed to secure an insurance run against Aberdeen's third pitcher of the evening, Jose Nivar.  For the bottom of the ninth, Coach Donnelly put the ball in Tyler Vanderheiden's hand.  After retiring the first two batters he faced, it looked like a good move too.  Then Coach Donnelly's closer suffered an acute bout of the yips.  With two outs mind you..., a double, a hit by pitch, a single, and an E-7 later, the Iron Birds were halfway to achieving a tie with that runner on third.  But Tyler Vanderheiden regrouped, and struck out Aberdeen's Chase Weems swinging for out number three.


Tyler Vanderheiden was credited with his tenth save of the season.  But Monday night's true king of the hill was Brooklyn's starting pitcher.  Rainy Lara earned his eighth win of the season, which ties him for the New York Penn League lead.  His 0.97 WHiP ranks seventh in the circuit.  In sixty-one innings pitched this season, he has limited batters to forty-nine hits, while issuing a mere ten walks.  His sixty-nine strikeouts rank second in the League behind his teammate Luis Mateo.


The Cyclones were actually limited to four hits.  Equally lacking, Brooklyn batted one for six with runners in scoring position.  Aberdeen doubled Brooklyn's output with eight hits.  But Brooklyn's strength; their pitching; have often made two runs stand up before.  And moving forward, they will most likely need to continue that trend.


The Cyclones have also received little in the way of out of town help over the last ten games or so.  Finally, Mother Nature found favor with the Baby Bums Monday night, and Brooklyn's neighbor and rival, the Staten Island Yankees, even provided their fellow New Yorker with an assist as well.


In the Ball Park at St. George, the Bombers hosted, then tossed the Hudson Valley Renegades into the drink.  The Yankees 8-2 win over the Renegades allowed Brooklyn to gain one game on the McNamara Division leaders.  But with nine games now left in the season, the Brooks are still six games back of first.  Stranger things have happened though.  No?


In the more pressing Wild Card race, Monday night's game in Ohio between the Batavia Muckdogs versus the Mahoning Vally Scrappers was rained-out.  So for now, Brooklyn's win allowed them to creep away from Batavia by a half game, at least for a night.  Coney Island's lead over the Muckdogs is now 2.5 games.  A double header most likely awaits the Muckdogs and Scrappers on Tuesday.





Mike.BTB

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

BKN Cyclones ~ Thank You Ohio...No Sleep Till Brooklyn

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

BROOKLYN CYCLONES: Brandon Nimmo Starting to Find His Grove at Plate as a Lead-Off Hitter.

Brooks Take Second Straight.  Win Series 2-1 Over Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

Finish Road Trip 4-2.  Remain Two Games Out of First Place.

Having completed a 4-2 road trip, the Boardwalk Bums packed up the team bus last night, and started the long but happy drive from Ohio, back to Coney Island, where they will enjoy a well deserved day off today; Tuesday.


In Monday's action, Brandon Nimmo hit the cowhide off the baseball for the second consecutive game.  And after dropping game one of this now concluded series, the Cyclones came storming back with two resounding victories over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in game two and three.

Batting lead-off for the sixth consecutive game, Brandon Nimmo went 3 for 5 in Monday night's game, with two doubles, one RBI, and two runs scored.  Over the first four games of the trip, he was just three of seventeen at the plate.  In his last two games however, he has seven hits in his last eleven at-bats.  Since being moved into the lead-off slot for game one of the prior series against Batavia, he is batting .357, based on ten hits in twenty-eight at-bats.

On Monday, starting pitcher Rainy Lara tossed a phenomenal game for Brooklyn.  It didn't start that way though.  He allowed a single, and a run producing double in the first inning, but then proceeded to keep the Scrappers quiet over his next six innings pitched.  In all, Rainy pitched seven full innings, allowing just a run on three hits.  He issued no walks, and struck out a season high ten batters.  With this effort, he lowered his season ERA to a 2.72 mark, and earned his fifth win of the season against just one loss.

Jayce Boyd hit a two RBI single in the third inning to put Brooklyn ahead.  With the bases loaded in the fifth, an RBI single by Stefan Sabol plated two more runs for Brooklyn, to make it a 4-1 game.  Then in the sixth inning, the Cyclones picked up their fifth and final run when Brandon Nimmo doubled home Eudy Pina.

The Cyclones' bullpen took care of the rest.  David Wynn struck out two batters working the eighth inning.  And Paul Sewald closed out Brooklyn's 5-1 victory allowing a hit, and striking out one batter in the ninth.


The Cyclones are now 25-17, and remain two games behind the first place Hudson Valley Renegades.  After today's off day, the Cyclones will host three games against the Connecticut Tigers on the old lots of Steeplechase.




Mike.BTB

BKN Cyclones ~ Brandon Nimmo Helps Knot Series Against Scrappers; Rubber Game Tonight

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  The Surf Avenue Sluggers Are Back!  Three Home Runs Power Brooks Past Mahoning Valley.

Series Tied 1-1

I - M.V. 3; BKN 2

II - BKN 10; M.V. 5

III - TONIGHT

Game Recap: Travelling Brooks Drop Game One in Ohio

Ask and ye shall receive.  A day after pointing out some of the Cyclones offensive woes, the Surf Avenue Sluggers struck back with a "Take That!" response for me, your author.  Late Sunday afternoon, the Brooks smashed out sixteen hits, and scored ten runs in game two of their series against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of Ohio.

Brooklyn took a 3-0 lead right away.  Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a single.  Batter number two; Jeff Reynolds; drew a base on balls.  Then Phillip Evans stepped in against Mahoning's starting pitcher; Ryan Merritt; and crushed his fourth home run of the season.  Two batters later, as quickly as Ryan Merritt's day started, was as quickly as it ended.  Before he could finish out the first inning, Merritt was lifted for Mahoning Valley's first relief pitcher of the game; Josh Martin.

In the second, Julio Concepcion and Brandon Nimmo hit a pair of two-out, back-to-back home runs, giving the Cyclones a 5-0 lead.  The Scrappers got a run back in the bottom of the second, and scored a second run in the third inning.

Brooklyn's starting pitcher; Julian Hilario; only pitched three full innings.  He allowed five hits and two earned runs.  He issued one walk and struck out four before leaving the game.  Beck Wheeler took over pitching duties for Brooklyn in the fourth, and pitched very well over three scoreless innings.  He walked two, and struck out six batters.

After loading the bases full of Cyclones in the fifth, an RBI sac-fly by Jayce Boyd ended Josh Martin's night.  In to pitch came Scrapper reliever number two; James Stokes.  Alexander Sanchez said hello to him with an RBI single to drive home Phillip Evans with Brooklyn's seventh run of the game.  In the sixth inning, the Cyclones pounded out another four consecutive hits, and scored two more runs off Stokes for a 9-2 lead.  They would scored one last run in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Jayce Boyd to make it a 10-2 game.

Out of the bullpen, Brooklyn's Timothy Peterson got roughed up for three runs in the home eighth.  Otherwise, Logan Taylor closed out the ninth inning for the Cyclones, securing a 10-5 win.  Julian Hilario was credited with a no-decision.  Beck Wheeler got the win for his three scoreless innings of work.


Coach Donnelly has been batting Brandon Nimmo in the lead-off spot during this current road trip through Batavia and Mahoning Valley.  While his .240 batting average this season indicates a struggle, his .368 OBP is something Coach Donnelly was looking to exploit at the top of the order.  But over the first four games of this trip, the results weren't so good.  He batted 3 for 17, with one double, and drew only one base on balls.  He then had a monster game on Sunday.  Against Mahoning Valley, Brandon Nimmo went 4 for 6, with a home run and a double.  That was Brandon Nimmo's third home run and eleventh double in 150 at-bats this season.


Mike.BTB

BKN Cyclones ~ The Travelling Brooks Drop Game One in Ohio

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:

Mahoning Valley Scraps Together a Win in Game One.

HITTING WOES HAMPERING BROOKLYN

By nature, the New York Penn League is a pitcher's league.  No one knows this better than the Cyclones.  Their hurlers are dong a fine job carrying the club this season.  And historically, they always have.  But there is no hiding the fact the Cyclones' offense is not as potent as say, past year's versions; ...not nearly.  Saturday's line-up was for intent and purpose, their regular starting line-up.  Among them, Alexander Sanchez tops the list with a .273 batting average.  At the opposite end, Juan Carlos Gamboa is sporting a .202 average.  The collective starting line-up so far is batting .237 this season.  And now they've slipped two games behind in the McNamara Division to the first place Hudson Valley Renegades.


After taking two of three in Batavia, the Cyclones arrived in Ohio Saturday to play the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  Hansel Robles was Brooklyn's starting pitcher.  Luis DeJesus started for the Scrappers.


After five innings of work, Robles left on the winning side of a 2-1 game.  He surrendered five hits, among them a home run to Mahoning's Joe Sever, but not much else.  Hansel struck out seven and did not walk a batter.  In six innings pitched, Luis DeJesus left with his team trailing by one.  He allowed five hits and walked none, while striking out two.  Brooklyn scored in the first and third inning off him.  After Brandon Nimmo led-off the game with a single, Kevin Plawecki drove him home with a two out double.  In the third, Eudy Pina scored on an RBI single by Jayce Boyd.


John Mincone came in to relieve Hansel Robles for the sixth, and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing two hits, and striking out one.  For the Scrappers, Scott Peoples came out of their bullpen to take over for DeJesus.  He kept the visitors scoreless in the seventh, and eighth innings, issuing one walk, striking out two, with no hits against.


David Wynn took over pitching duties for Brooklyn in the eighth.  And once he walked the lead-off batter, traditional thinking says trouble promptly follows.  But the Cyclones quickly erased Wynn's base on balls by turning over a 5-4-3 double play.  No matter though, trouble found its' way through to the Cyclones anyway.  The very next batter reached first base safely on an E-3 by Jayce Boyd.  Mahoning Valley's Joe Sever (remember him?) then stepped up again, and launched a two run home run; his second of the game; to give the Scrappers a 3-2 lead.


In the top of the ninth inning, Jayce Boyd and Kevin Plawecki both looked at strike three.  Stefan Sabol at least offered and struck out swinging against Mahoning's Cody Penny, who closed out his second save of the season.  Scott Peoples earned the win in relief.  Brooklyn's David Wynn suffered his first blown save and loss, pitching for the Cyclones.


Rain delayed the game for a little over an hour.  The Cyclones record now stands at 23-17, and as losers of six of their last ten, have now even slipped behind the State College Spikes by percentage points for the Wild Card.  Game Two of their series in Ohio is scheduled for late Sunday afternoon.




Mike.BTB

BKN Cyclones ~ Taking A Bite Out of Batavia Muckdogs

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  The Coney Island Nine have taken the first two games of their great western road trip so far, with a pair of wins against the Batavia Muckdogs.


On Wednesday night, the Muckdogs scored once in the first and again in the fifth, while Batavia's starter, Ben Freeman, cruised through his first five frames.  Staked to a two run lead, he allowed Brooklyn three scattered hits and no runs.


Gabriel Ynoa started for the Brooks.  He allowed both Batavia's runs.  Overall he pitched six full innings, surrendering eight hits, striking out five, while walking none.  He left on the winning side of this game however, because the Cyclones rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth.


Ben Freeman's outing fell apart rather quickly.  He allowed a lead-off single to Jayce Boyd.  Kevin Plawecki lined out hard to right for out one.  After a Ben Freeman wild pitch put Boyd on second, Alexander Sanchez tied the game with his first home run of the season.  Stefan Sabol then followed with a second consecutive home run; his second; to knock Freeman out of the box on the losing side.


That was the extent of the game's scoring.  After Gabriel Ynoa put Batavia down with a pair of strikeouts in the home sixth inning, he took to the showers as reliever Paul Sewald took over on the mound.  Sewald pitched the final three innings against the Muckdogs.  In picking up his second save of the season, he turned in a stellar performance, allowing but one hit and striking out two.  Starter Gabriel Ynoa improved his record to 2-1 on the season.


Coach Donnelly juggled the line-up and gave Brandon Nimmo a shot at the lead-off spot.  Although he is currently only hitting .228 this season, the center fielder's .369 OBP warranted a try.  He went 1 for 4 in the game, with a double, and a walk.  Stefan Sabol was 2 for 3 in the game with a home run and a double.


*


On Thursday and for the second consecutive game, Batavia jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning.  And the score stayed that way through the first seven innings of the game.  Batavia's Tyler Melling pitched the first four innings against Brooklyn.  Then Lee Stoppelman made an early appearance out of the bullpen, and kept the Cyclones in check for another two innings.


Luis Mateo started the game for Brooklyn, and put forth a very good effort, but was ultimately credited with a no-decision.  In 6.2 innings of work, he allowed the Muckdogs six hits, and limited them to the one run Batavia scored in the first.  Otherwise, he walked no batters and struck out seven before handing the game over to the bullpen.


Batavia's one run lead turned into a four run deficit in the top of the eighth inning.  Brooklyn broke out for five runs against the Muckdogs' third and fourth pitchers of the night; Brandon Creath and Joseph Scanio.  Three consecutive singles by Phillips Evans, Jayce Boyd, and Kevin Plawecki set up a bases loaded/no outs situation for Alexander Sanchez, who lofted a sac-fly to right, delivering Evans from third with the tying run.  Stefan Sabol then followed with his twelfth double of the season which scored Boyd to make it a 2-1 game.  That's when Batavia summoned Scanio to replace Creath on the mound.  No matter though.  Brooklyn's Jeff Reynolds introduced himself with a RBI single, and Eudy Pina's sac-fly scoring Sabol made the score 4-1 Cyclones.  Brandon Nimmo's RBI single then gave Brooklyn their fifth run of the inning.


Brooklyn reliever Logan Taylor was the beneficiary of those runs.  He previously closed out the seventh with one/third inning of work in relief of Luis Mateo.  He allowed one hit.  The bottom of the eighth was Matthew Koch's job though.  In fact, he pitched the ninth inning as well.  Overall, he allowed one hit and struck out one batter.  Logan Taylor was credited with the win however.


The Cyclones picked up two more insurance runs in the ninth.  A throwing error by pitcher Joseph Scanio allowed Jayce Boyd and Kevin Plawecki to score making it a 7-1 game, and eventual final.


Brandon Nimmo batted lead-off for the second consecutive game.  He was 1 for 5 with an RBI.  That makes him 2 for 9 batting from the top slot this series.  Stefan Sabol continued his hot hitting by going 2 for 5 in the game with two doubles and an RBI.  Jayce Boyd was 3 for 5, with two runs scored.


Prior to heading into Western New York, the Cyclones dropped a pair of games to the Aberdeen Iron Bird.  That allowed the Hudson Valley Renegades to take over the McNamara Division lead.  These last two Cyclones' wins have helped Brooklyn stay with 1 1/2 games of the Renegades.  Hudson Valley is in the middle of a seven game winning streak.  The Cyclones are now 23-15 on the season.  The Hudson Valley Renegades sport a slightly better 24-13 record.


Brooklyn will wrap up this series with the Batavia Muckdogs on Friday before continuing their westward journey towards Ohio, where they will take on the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  Hudson Valley will be playing a double header versus the Tri Citi Valley Cats.  Another win against the Muckdogs will be key for the second place Cyclones in order to keep pace.





Mike.BTB

BKN Cyclones ~ Strengthen Hold on First Against Renegades

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Eleventh Inning Win Opens Up Two Game Lead Over Hudson Valley in McNamara Division.


In the clash for the top spot of the McNamara Division, visiting Brooklyn shut out the Renegades 3-0 in their place on Sunday to open a one game lead in the standings.  Starter Luis Mateo pitched six strong innings to pick up his third win against no loses.  He surrendered a mere three hits, walked none, and struck out six.  David Wynn followed out of the bullpen to pitch the next two frames.  He struck out three before giving way to Tyler Vanderheiden, who picked up his fourth save of the season.

Cole Frenzel launched his first home run of the season leading off the second inning.  And the Brooks picked up two more runs on an E-5 in the third inning, capping off the night's scoring.

In Monday night's game at the Ballpark at Coney Island, the Cyclones led 1-0 after three innings thanks to a Eudy Pina bomb to center field.  But they promptly surrendered two runs in Hudson Valley's next at-bat.  In the home fourth, RBI by Jayce Boyd and Brandon Nimmo put Brooklyn back on top by a 3-2 score.  Then in the fifth, the Brooks picked up an insurance run on Stefan Sabol's RBI single.

Cyclones' starter Luis Cessa, pitched 4.0 innings.  He gave up three hits and walked three, while allowing two earned runs.

The Hudson Valley Renegades rallied late against Cyclones' reliever Beck Wheeler.  With the 'Clones ahead 4-2, Hudson Valley plated three runs on a Ryan Dunn bases clearing double, giving the Renegades a 5-4 lead in the seventh.  They would add an insurance run in the eighth against Juan Urbina.

In the eighth inning, the Cyclones got one back.  Jayce Boyd led off with a triple to straight away center field, and soon scored to make it a 5-6 game heading into the ninth.

Reliever John Mincone retired the Renegades in order in the top half of the ninth.  Then for last licks, Kevin Plawecki stepped up to lead off for the Cyclones, and promptly hit a laser over the left field wall off Marcus Jensen to tie the game at six apiece.

Into extra-innings they went.  John Mincone pitched into his second frame.  And with the go ahead runner on third, Mincone struck out the last two batters of the inning.

Brandon Nimmo led of the Cyclones tenth and struck out swinging on a 3-2 fastball down the middle of the plate.  Eudy Pina drew another full count but worked out a walk.  Juan Gamboa then worked out a second consecutive walk issued by Marcus Jansen, putting the winning run in scoring position.  After a short fly to center, Phillip Evans stepped up with two outs.  He launched one high and deep to left, but not far enough.  This game was headed for an eleventh inning.

John Mincone came out for another inning of work and effectively retired Hudson Valley for a third straight time.  For his part, he allowed three hits, walked one, gave up no runs, and struck out four.

In the home eleventh, Brooklyn faced Kris Carlson now in relief for Hudson Valley.  After Kevin Plawecki was hit by a pitched ball, Cole Frenzel flared a ball over the second baseman's head to set up a first and second situation with no outs.  Stefan Sabol worked out a walk to load the bases for Jayce Boyd.  Playing in his first game as a Cyclone, he was having a hot night at the plate; batting 3 for 5 to that point.  Boyd then lined a fly to shallow right.  Pinch running for Plawecki at third, Jonathan Clark tagged up and took off for home, successfully scoring the Cyclones' winning run.

The Surf Avenue Sluggers have now opened up a two game lead over the second place Renegades.  This was Brooklyn's eleventh win over four loses.  The teams will now get on the bus and head back into Hudson Valley for the final game of this home-and-home series.




Mike.BTB