Valley Cats 5
Cyclones 6
Sunday, Sept. 5 at MCU Park
The Cyclones showed why they’re the best team in the New York–Penn League with a gutsy win, though one that revealed one of the team’s flaws: fielding.
The Cyclones got on the board first — an in usual fashion. Darrell Ceciliani led off with a triple, his 12th of the season, and J.B. Brown followed with a homer.
After a run by the Valley Cats, the Cyclones added two more in the third on a two-run shot by Cory Vaughn — his franchise-record-setting 14th homer of the year, breaking Frank Corr’s single-season mark.
A Ceciliani single in the fourth added another run to run the score to 5–1.
But the Valley Cats scored four in the fifth. After reliever Nelson Pereira gave up three consecutive singles to load the bases, James Schroeder dropped a foul ball — an error that gave Tyler Burnett new life. He promptly singled, starting a rally that would tie the score.
But the Cyclones won it in the bottom of the frame. Vaughn doubled, stole third and then scored on a throwing error.
The win allowed the Clones to end the season with a 51–24 record, good enough for a .680 winning percentage -— second only to the inaugural Cyclones’ .684 percentage.
That team, of course, went on to win the New York–Penn League championship in 2001. This version of the Cyclones starts its own run at immortality on Tuesday night in Jamestown, NY, where the best-of-three semi-final playoff series will begin. Game 2 (and Game 3, if necessary) will on Wednesday, Sept. 8 (and Thursday, Sept. 9) at MCU Park.
When the Cyclones win that series, they’ll start the finals on the road on either Friday, Sept. 10 or Saturday, Sept. 11 (depending on the length of the semi-final series). Under this Cyclone-friendly scenario, Game 2 (and, if necessary, Game 3) will be at MCU Park on Sept. 11 or Sept. 12 (with Game 3 the next night).
Tickets are available at www.brooklyncyclones.com.
