By John Torenli
Baracklyn, Brooklyn — call it whatever you’d like.
The first-place Cyclones just call it home.
And thus far this season, they’ve been unbeatable within the friendly confines of Coney Island’s KeySpan Park, improving to 3-0 with an impressive 7-3 victory over the Hudson Valley Renegades on Tuesday night in front of nearly 9,000 fans eager to pick up a piece of Presidential memorabilia.
The much-anticipated “Baracklyn Cyclones” night more than lived up to expectations, with fans lining up hours before the opening pitch to land one of the 2,500 bobbleheads of our 44th President.
Celebrity impersonator Randall West waved to the crowd as Commander-in-Chief before joining “Obama Girl” Amber Lee Ettinger in tossing out the ceremonial first pitch. (The real president was busy defending our nation’s position in the ongoing political feuding in Iraq).
“Barack Obama has energized and captivated the entire country, and we are proud to support our new president as America enters a new era in its history,” long-time Cyclones general manager Steve Cohen said of the popular promotion.
“The similarities between his name and our home borough opened up avenues for the Cyclones to incorporate that support in interesting and humorous ways.”
Once the actual game began, the Cyclones got down to business, again displaying a penchant for solid defense, timely hitting and brilliant pitching.
Brooklyn starter Brandon Moore (1-0), the Mets’ 14th-round pick out of Indiana-Wesleyan University last summer, followed West and Ettinger’s “First Pitch” by allowing four hits and striking out four over seven scoreless innings.
The 23-year-old right-hander, who went 3-1 in eight relief outings for the Cyclones during his first professional season, didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable in his new role as a starter.
Moore overcame a leadoff single and wild pitch in the opening frame before Brooklyn provided him with an early cushion, putting up two runs in the bottom of the first on a bases-loaded walk by Ralph Henriquez and Luis Rivera’s RBI single.
Matt Bouchard lifted a sacrifice fly in the second and Alexander Gregory highlighted a three-run fifth with a two-run double before fan favorite John Servidio smacked an RBI single to make it 6-0.
That was more than enough for Moore, who fought out of a few early-inning jams before setting down the final 10 batters he faced in order.
The Crawfordsville, Ind., native, donning his commemorative “Baraclyn Cyclones” jersey, faced just two batters over the minimum before turning the game over to the Brooklyn bullpen.
Citadel product Wesley Wrenn surrendered three runs on four hits over the final two frames, but the Cyclones had already made it 7-0 on Juan Centeno’s run-scoring base hit in the seventh.
The win moved Brooklyn into sole possession of the top spot in the McNamara Division. After the game, the Cyclones took off on a four-game road trip through Hudson Valley and Aberdeen.
Brooklyn, which dropped its first road contest at Hudson Valley on Monday night, will return to KeySpan for a Sunday evening showdown with the Renegades.
This, That and the Other Thing: The Cyclones donated one of the “Baracklyn Cyclones” jerseys to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., which reportedly requested the red-white-and-blue commemorative uniform prior to Tuesday’s game. … According to the team’s media relations department, there were two free admissions on “Baraclyn” Night: One for a plumber named Joe and another for Barak Zavahy. No Palins or McCains in the crowd of 8.760. … Mets chief operating officer and Cyclones COO Jeff Wilpon told the Associated Press that the Barack promotion isn’t quite ready for Shea Stadium. “I think it’s expected at the minor league level,” he said. “I think the columnists would have a field day if you tried to do anything too far off base here, especially in New York.” … C Centeno is 5-for-10 with three RBIs in his first three games. … RHP Moore’s seven-inning stint was the longest by a Cyclones hurler during the first week of the campaign. … The Cyclones have committed no more than one error in any of their first four games — a rare show of solid defense from a group of players that just began playing together this week. … Brooklyn ranks fifth in the league with a .267 team batting average.
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