Cyclones 2
West Virginia 1
August 14 at MCU Park
The Cyclones offense did just enough to grab a series-clinching 2–1 victory over West Virginia on Sunday at MCU Park. Gabriel Llanes tossed seven strong innings, holding the lead on the mound as Brooklyn went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The teams struggled at the plate early, but West Virginia broke the scoreless tie in the fourth. Arden Pabst connected on a two-out triple and Sandy Santos followed with a grounder to third, but a Blake Tiberi throwing error gave the Black Bears the lead.
Brooklyn tried to respond in the bottom of the inning, but came up short. Brandon Brosher got thing started with a walk, Tiberi was hit by a pitch and Ali Sanchez reached on an error to load the bases with one out.
Jay Jabs took a called strike three which led to a tirade from hitting coach Sean Ratliff. Ratliff was ejected by home plate umpire Jude Koury and came out of the dugout to draw a line where he felt the pitch crossed the plate. Darryl Knight then flew out to right to end the inning.
The Cyclones finally got to West Virginia starter Stephan Meyer in the sixth. Colby Woodmansee and Brosher singled to begin the inning, and the runners advanced on a Tiberi groundout.
Meyer uncorked a wild pitch which scored Woodmansee and moved Brosher to third. Sanchez hit a grounder to second, and Brosher beat the throw to the plate to give the Cyclones a 2–1 lead.
Llanes gave up one run on four hits in seven innings of work, striking out two and walking none. Gary Cornish pitched a scoreless eighth and then Joseph Zanghi came on to pitch the ninth. The Black Bears kept it interesting as Ty Moore singled and a pair of wild pitches moved pinch-runner Erik Forgione to third. Zanghi recovered however and got Santos swinging to end the game.
Llanes improved to 4–5 this season with a 2.92 earned run average, while Zanghi recorded his fifth save.
UPS AND DOWNS
The 30–26 Cyclones now get two days off for the New York-Penn League All-Star Game before returning to action on the road Wednesday against the hated Staten Island Yankees.
