Cyclones 7
Connecticut 6
July 2 at MCU (Game one)
Hip, hip, Jose!
Cyclones right fielder Jose Miguel Medina tore up the Tigers’s pitchers, hitting a home run and a triple that scored two runs and drove two in, all of which helped the Clones kick their seven-game losing streak and take their first home victory of the season.
The Clones picked up the game postponed due to weather right where they left off when Carlos Sanchez scored from third off a wild pitch during the match’s first at-bat, making the score 5–3.
Franklin Correra then hit a line drive single to score Medina in the fourth, bringing the tally to a tight 5–4 in favor of Connecticut.
But Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Quinn Brodey singled to score Matt Winaker and, after reaching third in the same play on a Tigers throwing error, scored on a triple by Medina, making the score 6–5.
Medina padded the Cyclones’s lead with a solo homer in the eighth, bringing it to 7–5.
The Tigers attempted to overtake the Clones in the top of the ninth when Joey Morgan scored off a force out play, but reliever Gregorix Estevez kept Connecticut’s batters at bay, and got the save when the game ended with a final score 7–6.
Connecticut 3
Cyclones 2
July 2 at MCU (Game two)
Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer could not find the momentum to finish their double-header as strongly as they started it.
Cyclones starter Jose Carlos Medina stayed solid on the mound, allowing just five hits and three runs in seven innings, but his teammates struggled to get on the board, leading the Clones to finish the second of the two games in the loss column.
The Tigers took a 2–0 lead after Elys Escobar hit a solo home run in the third and Garrett McCain scored off a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Clones right fielder Jose Miguel Medina reduced the deficit in the bottom of the fourth when he grounded into a force out that scored Reed Gamache, making the tally 2–1.
But the Tigers increased the lead with a Dylan Rosa solo homer in the sixth, and the Cyclones never caught up, despite coming close when the right fielder, Medina, hit another force out later that inning that scored Walter Rasquin and brought the score to 3–2 — where it stayed till the game ended.
Jose Carlos Medina took the loss, making him 0-2 this year, and Gamache had three hits and scored a run.
And while the boys did not end the day with a pair of wins, Cyclones manager Edgardo “Fonzie” Alfonzo said he was thrilled with the team’s growing confidence.
“One thing we’re looking for is for the guys to have the confidence that they can do it, and believe that they can play the game,” he said. “They showed that today. It’s a great sign.”
The double-header win and loss put Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer at a dismal 3–9 for the season, still good enough for last place in their McNamara Division, three games behind Hudson Valley.
The Cyclones will attempt to emerge victorious in the best-of-three series against Connecticut when they take the field tonight at MCU Park at 7 pm.
