Despite poor road trip Cyclones hang on to first

The Cyclones returned home to face Hudson Valley after a poor 1-6 road trip to West Virginia and Ohio, which diminished their four-game lead for first place in the McNamara Division. Fortunately for the Cyclones, the team gave the fans what they came to see on their returning home stand – an offensive breakout performance for the team that is last in the New York Penn League in offense with a .218 average.

After putting three runs on the board in the first inning to start the game 3-0, Tucker Tharp cracked his first home run of the season to increase the Cyclone lead to 4-0 by the fifth inning. Jeff Diehl — who leads the Cyclones with four home runs — followed with a “moon shot” over the left field wall headed for the new Thunderbolt roller coaster for two RBIs, which would stand up for the final winning score of 6-3.

On his performance, Diehl (.286) stated, “The pitcher left that ball in my hot spot and I took advantage of it [for a home run]. It all goes back to practicing in the cage and not panicking when you have two strikes on you.”

As far as the team, Diehl stated, “The team was simply flat on that last road trip and lacked energy, which sometimes happens. I believe that we have a good hitting team which just has to start hitting.”

With the Cyclone offense still last in the league, the pitching staff is still carrying the team, especially the efforts of Gaby Almonte, who leads the starting staff with a record of 5-2 for a three way tie for first in the league for wins. When the Cyclones are ahead in the late innings, Alex Palsha continues to be dependable out of the bullpen to close games, as the right-handed specialist leads the league with nine saves.

While the Cyclones lead the league with a team ERA of 2.74, the pitching staff has decided to loosen things up a bit with the institution of “The Pink Knapsack” which contains gum and snacks for the relief pitchers. Traditionally given to the rookie on a major league club to carry out to the bullpen in front of the fans as a good-natured hazing ritual, it is being worn by Nicco Blank since he sports the highest ERA for relief pitchers.

Despite his low man on the totem pole ranking, Blank wears the knapsack proudly as he’s written on the shoulder straps, “Carve Nation” for the team’s overall pitching performance that ranks it first in the league.

Explaining the pitching staff’s moniker, Andrew Church stated, “We carve the plate to get strikes; that’s why we’re first in the league.”

Although the Cyclones had offensive outbreaks to win a pair over Hudson Valley, the offense proved to be inconsistent again as the team lost a three-game home stand to the Batavia Muckdogs, 3-1, 10-3 and 1-0.

After the three-game sweep, the Cyclones have managed to remain in first place with a record of 22-19, just a half game over the 21-19 Staten Island Yankees as the team gets ready to embark on another six-game road trip to Lowell, Massachusetts and Burlington, Vermont.