Cyclones sweep home series to take first

From the beginning of the season, the Cyclones have been fighting to stay close to the top of their division behind the first place Greensboro Grasshoppers and the second place Hudson Valley Renegades.

Over the past three weeks, the Cyclones went 14-3 and have catapulted to the top of the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division with a record of 36-15 to take first place over Greensboro by a game and a half. Over that three-week period, Brooklyn first swept Winston-Salem at home in six games, followed by another six-game home sweep of the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

Some of the Cyclones who have instrumental in the early-season surge have been Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Boston Baro.

According to Cyclone radio broadcaster Johnny Godomowitz, “Carson Benge has been a fixture in the Cyclone lineup since the very first day of the season.”

Catcher Ronald Hernandez hit a walk-off home run against Aberdeen for Brooklyn’s 12th consecutive home win.

From early in the season, Benge has contributed offensively to practically all of the Cyclone wins. Benge, the Mets’ 2023 first-round pick out of Oklahoma State University, is currently the team’s top hitter with a .299 batting average.

After playing last season at Low-A St. Lucie, Benge commented on the South Atlantic League, saying, “It’s a lot cleaner ball up here, you see a lot less errors. You get a lot more pitches in the zone to hit. Even though it was cold in the beginning of the season, the more pitches that I saw, the more I was able to get going. After being with this teamagain, I love these guys and my coaches.”

Coming up to join the Cyclones, as recent as April 29, was one of Benge’s St. Lucie teammates, the Mets’ 2023 fourth-pick A.J. Ewing. It only took the 20-year old Ewing three weeks to make his mark on the team as he was named SAL Player of the Week after hitting .348 and stealing 14 bases. With his ability to make contact and to hit for average, Ewing was moved to the top of the order, where he currently leads the team with 23 stolen bases over his past five weeks.

Another 20-year old player out of high school is Californian infielder Boston Baro, the Mets’ 2023 eighth pick. Baro is one of the team’s smoothest defenders and is learning to improve his offense this season.

Pointing out the key for his improvement at the plate, Baro said, “The coaching staff has helped me to identify the pitch as the ball comes out the pitcher’s hand instead of the ball in flight.”

Commenting on his teammates, Baro said, “We got a good team here up and down the lineup.  I know that the guy in front of me or the guy in back of me will pick me up.  We have a good clubhouse of guys both on and off the field.”

Noting that playing professional baseball has always been a dream of his, Baro admitted with a smile, “Since I was three years old, all I wanted to do was to play baseball and now I’m loving it.”