Cyclones 6
Tri-City 3
Aug. 2 at MCU Park
Cyclones starter Darwin Ramos silenced Tri-City’s bats, allowing four hits and no runs while striking out seven in six innings pitched, but the Cyclones baserunners literally stole the show, as Jose Miguel “Funky Cold” Medina, Walter “Rabbi” Rasquin, Quinn “Chief” Brodey, and Edgardo “Felix” Fermin combined for eight stolen bases as the Cyclones beat the ValleyCats.
Our boys put themselves in the lead quickly. Rasquin led off the first inning with a single. After Rasquin stole both second and third, Medina singled to score Rasquin. Medina then stole second before Brodey singled to score Medina to make it 2–0.
The Clones followed that up with some power the next inning. Carl Stajduhar led off with a home run, his third of the season. Fermin then tripled to center before Rasquin was walked. The Cyclones then pulled off a delayed double steal when Rasquin stole second to help Fermin steal home to make it 4–0.
Cyclones reliever Chris Viall blew the shutout in the eighth. After walking J.J. Matijevic and Jake Adams, catcher Carlos Sanchez caught Matijevic stealing at third while Adams advanced to second. Corey Julks then singled to score Matijevic to make it 4–1.
Our boys were quick to increase their lead. Brodey led off the bottom of the eighth with a double then Reed Gamache grounded out to advance Brodey to third. Stajduhar hit a grounder to third baseman Jonathan Arauz who tried to get Brodey out at home, but made a throwing error to score him instead. After ValleyCats reliever Hunter Martin threw a wild pitch that advanced Stajduhar to second, Sanchez singled to score Stajduhar to make it 6–1.
The ValleyCats didn’t go away slowly. With runners on first and second and one out, Bryan De La Cruz grounded to second in what appeared to be a double play, but Cruz beat the throw to first. Because Cyclones first baseman Jose Maria forgot that the play wasn’t dead, Gabriel Bracamonte scored from second with ease. Matijevic then doubled to score Cruz, but Kyle Davis grounded out to end the game.
Manager Edgardo Alfonzo praised the aggressive and smart approach the team took for their baserunning.
“We have guys that can run a little bit so this game was all about putting pressure on the other team and I think we did a good job with that,” Fonzie said, “I told the guys to be smart running the base and working on the count and see what kind of pitch it is.”
Actor Chauncey Leopardi, who portrayed Michael ‘Squints’ Palledorous in the baseball classic “The Sandlot,” was in attendance as part of the Squints Bobblehead Day.
The victory doesn’t change the fact that the Cyclones’ 14–28 record is pretty bad, but on the bright side, they’ve won two of their last three games. Plus, this win puts them just five-and-a-half games behind the equally awful Hudson Valley Renegades — a team so bad Mother Nature keeps raining out its games, as it did yesterday in Lowell.
Our boys hope to make it two in a row tonight at 7 pm at MCU Park.
