Cyclones 6
Hudson Valley 3
July 18 at Hudson Valley
The Cyclones offense finally came alive on Monday afternoon, staging a late-game rally to notch a much-needed 6–3 victory over Hudson Valley.
The two teams both struggled at the plate early, but Hudson Valley broke a scoreless tie by manufacturing a run in the fifth. Angel Perez led off with an infield single, stole second, and moved to third on a groundout. Danny De La Calle hit a grounder to third, and Perez came home as the Renegades put the contact play on.
Third baseman Blake Tiberi had to reach into his glove twice and his throw home was just late as Perez – diving in head-first – scored to make it 1–0.
Then – after four straight games of offensive miscues – the Cyclones exploded in the sixth. Facing Porter Clayton with two out and nobody on, Pete Alonso walked. Tiberi followed with a double and Colby Woodmansee drove them both in with a two-run single to give Brooklyn the lead. Woodmansee took second on the throw home and then went to third when catcher De La Calle’s throw to second went into centerfield.
Jacob Zanon added to the hit parade with a ball that was deflected by Clayton towards second base, but Miles Mastrobuoni’s throw to first was too late to get Zanon as Woodmansee scored. Jay Jabs followed with a run-scoring double to give the Cyclones a 4–1 lead.
The four runs in the inning were as many as the Cyclones scored in the previous four games combined.
In the seventh, Alonso padded the lead with a two-run homer to center off Garrett Fulenchek. Alonso went two-for-four with two runs batted in and two runs scored.
Woodmansee also collected two hits and two runs batted in.
Manoah picked up the win, giving up one run in five innings. The right-hander allowed four hits, walked one and struck out one as he improved to 3–1 on the season.
Raul Jacobson tossed two innings of scoreless ball in relief before the Renegades scored against him in the eighth. Garrett Whitley’s run-scoring single cut the lead to 6–2. Hudson Valley loaded the bases, as Tom Gamboa called on closer Taylor Henry. Henry struck out Nathaniel Lowe to end the inning and the threat.
Hudson Valley scored once more in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as Henry picked up his fourth save of the season.
UPS AND DOWNS
In the first, Pete Alonso doubled with Ali Sanchez on first. Hudson Valley public address announcer Rick Zolzer yelled “foul” although Alonso ignored it and went to third.
In the sixth, the Cyclones momentarily lost a run. With Alonso on first, Tiberi hit one into the left field corner which looked like it would tie the game. Instead the ball bounced between bullpen gates that had failed to close and went for a ground-rule double. When the Cyclones scored four runs, the ground-rule double became a footnote.
