Cyclones burst out of the starting gate

Take Two of Three from Rival Yankees, Clobber ValleyCats

June 23, 2015 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Cyclones crossed home plate 14 times during Monday night’s rout of visiting Tri-City at Coney Island’s MCU Park. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Cyclones

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The Cyclones spent most of last summer scratching and clawing to put together enough runs to consistently support one of the best pitching staffs in the New York-Penn League.

Though four games this season, the Brooklyn offense appears to be firing on all cylinders, as evidenced in Monday night’s 14-0 thrashing of Tri-City before 4,722 fans on a steamy summer evening at Coney Island’s MCU Park.

Brooklyn has already put up 26 runs en route to an early 3-1 mark, numbers greatly enhanced by Monday night’s massacre of the visiting ValleyCats.

After taking two of three from arch-rival Staten Island to begin their grueling 76-game Class A short-season campaign, the Baby Bums (3-1) trounced Tri-City early and often.

Returning NY-Penn All-Star outfielder Michael Bernal, who plated the game-winning run with an RBI single in Friday’s season-opening 3-2 extra-inning victory in Staten Island, began the bashing with a two-run homer in the first inning on his way to a four-RBI night.

Tucker Tharp went 4-for-4 with a franchise-record five runs scored and Vincent Siena drove in a pair and scored twice for Brooklyn, which got seven innings of two-hit ball from right-hander Matt Blackham, who was brilliant in his Brooklyn debut.

Catcher Jose Garcia also had two RBIs for the Cyclones, who put together 14 hits in front of their ever-faithful fans, making up for Saturday night’s 8-3 home-opening loss to Staten Island.

Christian Montgomery and Corey Taylor each tossed a scoreless frame out of the Brooklyn bullpen, sealing the Cyclones’ first shutout of the young season.

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In other local pro sports news, the New York Islanders, who will call the Barclays Center their new home later this year, have officially announced their 2015 preseason schedule.

Brooklyn’s first-ever NHL team will play three of its eight exhibition contests in Downtown Brooklyn, beginning with a Monday, Sept. 21 game against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

The Islanders, who have reached the playoffs in two of the previous three seasons, will host New Jersey at Barclays for the third straight season. They finish off their home exhibition slate against Washington, the team that eliminated them in seven tough games in this past season’s playoffs, on Sept. 28.

Brooklyn, which inked a 25-year lease with the Barclays Center after calling the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum home since their inaugural 1972-73 campaign, suffered a 3-0 loss to the Devils here in 2014 in the first-ever NHL game played in our fair borough.

The Islanders rebounded with last year’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Devils.

The Islanders’ five preseason road games include stops at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA, Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA, Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, NS and Verizon Center in Washington D.C.

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Also of local pro sports interest, the Brooklyn Nets received news that power forward Thaddeus Young will opt for free agency this coming summer, something the organization doubtlessly expected.
Brooklyn general manager Billy King intimated following the Nets’ first-round playoff elimination at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks that Young, along with center Brook Lopez, also eligible for free agency this summer, were the team’s top priorities this offseason.

The Nets do have the advantage of signing both Young and Lopez at a higher price than other teams, and that should work to their advantage come July.

Lopez, who has yet to announce his intentions, has dealt with several foot injuries over the past three seasons, but shined last year as Brooklyn made a late push to the playoffs after acquiring Young at the trade deadline.

The two big men figure to be an important part of Brooklyn’s future, if, in fact, King can get them both to agree to long-term deals to stay here.

Stay tuned.