For the past two months, pitcher Dakota Hawkins has been helping the Cyclones as one of the workhorses out of the bullpen. However, when he was given a spot start to begin the first game of the home stand against the Aberdeen Iron Birds, little did Hawkins know that he and two teammates, along with rehabbing New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, would become part of Cyclones history.
The June 4 game started off as an unlikely no-hitter as the first Aberdeen batter belted a ball to the right field corner that speedy Stanley Consuegra would flag down with a leaping, running catch for the first out.
“If that ball falls in, we’ve got nothing to talk about today,” said Brooklyn manager Gilbert Gomez. “I always tell the guys to be ready from the beginning of the game because the play that they make can change the game.”
After leaving the mound after five innings of no-hit pitching, Hawkins had reached his pitch count limit and turned the ball over to Joey Lancellotti for the sixth inning. Oddly enough, Consuegra again made the same identical play in right field in the sixth to preserve the no-hit bid. As Lancellotti excited the game for the seventh inning without giving up a hit, Gomez realized that a no-hitter was now a real possibility. With the traditional unspoken possibility now a reality, Josh Cornielly approached the mound to pitch the seventh inning with the Cyclones holding a 3-0 lead.
Cornielly, another one of this season’s bullpen workhorses, went on to pitch a hitless seventh inning and then struck out the side in the eighth to hold on to the no–hit bid.
Although Cornielly was scheduled to pitch only two innings, Gomez sent him out for the ninth, considering his eighth inning performance and his low pitch count. Besides saving some arms early in the home stand, Gomez said that it was now Cornielly’s game to save.
After walking a batter, Cornielly did not let his manager down as he got the last Aberdeen batter to ground out for the Cyclones’ first-ever nine-inning combined no-hitter.
When asked how important it was to have former Cyclone Alvarez behind the plate, Gomez said, “His receiving was outstanding. He was framing pitching at the bottom of the zone for strikes. When you have a catcher like that you have to trust him one hundred percent.”
Summing up the game, Gomez added, “It wasn’t a dominant pitching performance; we had a combined six strikeouts along with four walks. Our defense had to be on their toes to get those outs.”
Putting the no-hitter into historical perspective, Cyclones radio broadcaster Justin Rocke said that Brandon Moore threw the Cyclones’ last no-hitter in 2009 during a seven-inning game against the same Aberdeen Iron Birds. Incidentally, the last nine-inning no-hitter pitched in Brooklyn was 68 years by Sal Maglie when he beat the Phillies 5-0 at Ebbets Field to help propel the Dodgers to the 1956 National League pennant.
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