Cyclones 4
Staten Island 2
July 8 in Staten Island (Game one)
The evil empire was overthrown!
Cyclones batters had the force, earning four runs and ten hits as the boys vanquished Staten Island and broke the hated Yankees’s undefeated home-game streak in the first match of a doubleheader against the division foe.
Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer took an early lead in the first after a throwing error by Staten Island second baseman Oswaldo Cabrera scored Matt Winaker and, with Ricardo Cespedes at bat, a balk plated Walter Rasquin, making it 2–0.
But Staten Island sprung back, scoring on a solo home run by Kendall Coleman in the second and a single by Cabrera that plated Manny Argomaniz in the third to tie the game at 2–2.
With the squads neck and neck in the fourth, Clones third baseman Carl Stajduhar hit a solo homer to break the tie before scoring again on a Winaker single in the seventh, effectively carrying the Cyclones to the 4–2 victory.
Hurler Gregorix Estevez got the win for allowing no hits or runs in two innings of relief, making him 1–0 for the season, and Connor O’Neil got his first save of the season.
Staten Island 7
Cyclones 2
July 8 in Staten Island (Game two)
The Cyclones lost the force as quickly as they found it.
Starter Trent Johnson took a beating on the mound, allowing six hits and seven runs, as the evil Yankees took the second game and split the doubleheader.
Staten Island got on the board early this time, when Wilkerman Garcia scored on a wild pitch by Johnson in the first. The team moved further ahead in the second, after Garcia singled in Nelson Gomez and Cody Brown hit a double that scored Brian Reyes and Cesar Diaz, making it 4–0.
Reed Gamache put Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer on the board in the third when he doubled in Franklin Correa, but Staten Island added two runs to their lead the next inning when Reyes and Diaz scored after Clones first baseman Winaker made a throwing error on a ground out by Brown, making it 6–1.
Each team went on to score one more run apiece — Staten Island when Ryan Krill singled in Dalton Blaser in the fifth, the Cyclones when Stadjuhar’s single plated Jose Miguel Medina in the sixth — ending the game at 7–2.
Johnson took the loss, making him 1–2 on the season, and Medina had a hit and scored a run.
Manager Edgardo “Fonzie” Alfonzo said that although game two did not end in a Cyclones victory, he was happy that the boys trounced Staten Island on the team’s home turf earlier in the day.
“They always play tough here, so it was great to get the first win in Staten Island,” he said.
Splitting the doubleheader puts the Clones at 5–14, still in dead last place in the McNamara Division, but only one-and-a-half games behind Hudson Valley, which has lost ten in a row.
Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer hope to finish their four-game series against the hated Yankees on a high note when the two face-off this afternoon at MCU Park at 4 pm.
