The Brooklyn Cyclones (38-20) offense scored their only run in the 1st inning, then were stymied the rest of the way by Staten Island pitching. The loss brings Brooklyn’s home record to 22-6. The Cyclones wasted a terrific effort from starter Jonathan Kountis. In his first start of the season, Kountis pitched 5 shutout innings, giving up only 2 hits, while walking 4, and striking out 9. Adam Koralek (2 IP, 2h, 2er, 0BB, 2K, HR) took the loss, giving up 2 runs in the 7th inning.
Playing in his first game for the Cyclones, Wilfredo Tovar (2-4, SB) scored the lone Brooklyn run after Jeff Flagg doubled him home in the first. The Cyclones offense was limited to only 5 hits, including 4 singles.
The Brooklyn Cyclones were well represented in the NYPL All-Star game. Darrell Ceciliani (0-1, BB) started in CF and hit leadoff, Cory Vaughn (1-2, run, SB) started in RF and hit 3rd, and Joe Bonfe (0-2) started at 3B hitting 7th. Jeff Flagg (0-2) entered the game as the backup 1B.
On the mound Yohan Almonte was the starting pitcher for the NL team, delivering a flawless frame. The most impressive performance by a Cyclone belonged to Angel Cuan. Cuan came on in the fourth inning, and struck out all three batters to face him. Unfortunately Ryan Fraser did not fair as well. Fraser came in the bottom of the eighth inning, with runners on first and third and one out. He allowed the tying run to score on a sacrifice fly, and the go-ahead run to score on a single. Fraser was charged with a blown save.
SS-R: Bristol White Sox @ Kingsport Mets- PPD RAIN
Julio Concepcion (2-2, 3B, RBI) raised his season totals to .304/.344/.529. However, the 20-year old Concepcion did leave the game early. No word on if an injury took place.
Another dreary day for the Kingsport Mets (23-30). The Kingsport loss, brings their current losing streak to seven games. No starter collected more than one hit. C Nelfi Zapata(1-3, HR, RBI) connected on a solo homerun in the 3rd, his second of the season.
In the meantime, Bristol flexed its offensive muscle vs. Kingsport starter Zachary Von Tersch. Von Tersch gave up 5(!) White Sox homeruns. His final line was: 3 1/3, 7 hits, 7 runs, 6 er, 3 BB, 6 K, 3 WP.
A 2-for-12 weekend with a triple and a walk brought Cory Vaughn down to .308/.399/.556. He’s still third in the NYP in slugging and OPS. Darrell Ceciliani (.364/.416/.535) was 1-7 on Sunday, but had multi-hit games in the other two. He leads the NYP in average and total bases and is fourth in stolen bases (18), but has also been caught 10 times.
3B J.B. Brown sat Friday, but was 7-13 with a double on Saturday. At 21, with a slash line of .309/.335/.434 and seven walks against 22 strikeouts in 42 games, he’s shown contact ability but not secondary skills – power and patience – that have fans rightfully excited about someone like Vaughn.
Saturday, Yohan Almonte (7-3, 1.73) tossed seven shutout innings, giving up just two hits and three walks. Before you get all crazy about the sub-2.00 ERA, realize that he has 49 strikeouts in 72.2 innings pitched.
And if we learned anything in 14 innings on Sunday, it’s that the red-hot Cyclones don’t want to take the two days off Monday and Tuesday for the NYP League All-Star Break.
Well, that and Nelson Pereira, (0-0, 3.86) in his first start of the year threw nearly perfect innings with six strikeouts. He did hit a batter. He’s a 5’11, 180 pounder from El Salvado with 28 strikeouts and seven walks in 23.1 innings this year.
Friday, after the start of his life last week, Michael Hebert gave up five runs, four earned, on eight his in 4.2 innings runs. He walked three and fanned five.
Saturday, 2B Ray Van Gurp (.263/.344/.380 – age 21) hit his first home run of the year in a 3-4 night.
Sunday, the Sox scored four times in the top of the ninth to hand the K-Mets their sixth loss in a row. At least Aderlin Rodriguez(.299/.339/.559) was 3-4 with a double. Nearly half (29 of 61) of his hits have gone for extra-bases.
No Javier Rodriguez. Last weekend he had a wrist issue.
R – GCL Saturday: @ GCL Mets 8, GCL Astros 5 Sunday: @ GCL Mets 4, GCL Marlins 3 Francisco Pena DHed Saturday and was 2-5. He did the same Sunday and was 0-2 with a walk. It’ll be interesting to see when he catches his first game – that’ll give us some more information on his timetable. Remember, he broke his foot in spring training. Erik Goeddel, the Mets 24th round pick, who the team went significantly overslot to sign, made his debut Saturday. In one inning of work, he gave up a hit an a strikeout. One of the reasons that the signing deadline should be moved up to July 15th instead of August 15th in the next CBA is that the July date would give nearly all draft picks an opportunity to play.
The game turned on five Cyclones’ runs in the top of the seventh, but I’m more interested in CF Darrell Ceciliani going 2-5 and RF Cory Vaughn going 2-3 with an IBB. Ceciliani, who turned 20 in June is hitting .370/.425/.555 with 16 doubles and 10 triples. He leads the league in AVG, OPS and is second in OBP and third in SLG.
Meanwhile, the 21-year old Vaughn is hitting .317/.401/.569 and is second in the league in slugging, HR and total bases.
R – Kingsport: @ Elizabethton 8, Kingsport Mets 5
18-year old 3B Aderlin Rodriguez was 2-4 with a double (his 16th) and a home run (his 12th). He’s bopping at a .296/.338/.561. When I told a few Sand Gnats players I’d been up to Kingsport last weekend, they all wanted to talk about Aderlin. Good choice. He’s second in the Appy in HR and six in slugging.
Wow: CF Darrell Ceciliani (.382/.434/.559) was 3-4 with a double and his first home run of the year
Wow 2: RF Cory Vaughn (.313/.401/.574) was 2-3 with his 11th jack of the year. Vaughn came out early for a pinch-hitter. Anyone at this game?
R-GCL: @ GCL Mets 6, GCL Marlins 1
Goods stuff from Juan Urbina (4-2, 4.84): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
CF Matt den Dekker was 2-4 with a double in his fourth game in the GCL. He’ll be 23 next week. Will he be a Sand Gnat on his birthday or will he just slide right over to advanced-A?
3B Eric Campbell was 2-4 in his second rehab game. He should be back in AA shortly.
Darrell Ceciliani was a mere 1-4, but did steal his 16th base.
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. R- Kingsport: Elizabethton Twins 4, @ Kingsport Mets 2
22-year old SS Justin Schafer (.328/.390/.443) was 3-4 with a double and an RBI. The Mets drafted the UC Davis product in the 34th round this year. Baseball America’s notes on him were fairly positive, “above-average runner with a chance to hit for average but with a little pop. He profiles as a utility player.”
20-year old RF, Javier Rodriguez (.327/.358/.527), the Mets 2nd rounder in ’08, was 1-4 with a homer, his fourth.
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. R- GCL Mets 9, @ GCL Cardinals 2
CF Matt Den Dekker was 2-4 with a double, a walk and three RBI in his second professional game. Also on Monday, the Gnats started two outfielders with batting averages below .175: Nick Santomauro (.173/.237/.213) and R.J. Harris (.176/.255/.259).
19-year old C Cam Maron, last year’s 34th rounder out of Hicksville HS was 2-5. In 10 games, he’s hitting .320/.433/.440.
6’4″ 18-year old Domingo Tapia (2-3, 4.15) tossed six shutout innings, giving up just one hit and a walk while fanning five.
CF Darrell Ceciliani (.391/.444/.562) was 2-4 as Brooklyn, at 30-13, extended its lead to eight games over the second-place Yankees. There’s a nice story here from Jim Waggoner at http://www.silive.com about Ceciliani.
His hitting coach, Benny DiStefano explained some of Ceciliani’s success:
“He has a very good approach and plan…He’s hitting the ball hard …
line to line. He’s a plus runner and a plus outfielder. In my opinion,
he’s definitely on the road to becoming a big-league player.”
C Blake Forsythe (.242/.333/.394 – 10 games), the Mets third-rounder out of the University of Tennessee, lifted his first professional home run.
LHP Angel Cuan (5-0, 1.68) struck out 10 with one walk in his 5.2 innings. He gave up two runs on three hits, one of which was a home run.
R- GCL: @ GCL Mets 5, GCL Nationals 1
CF Matt Den Dekker was 0-3 in his professional debut. I suspect den Dekker, who will be 23 in nine days, will land in Savannah, because he’s not going to displace Ceciliani in Brooklyn, unless of course, the Mets promote Ceciliani. Marcos Camarena, in his second straight start, held the Nats to one run on four hits in six innings with four strikeouts against one walk. The 19-year old was a DSL All-Star last year. I’m honestly not sure what kind of arm he is, but he’s already a pretty good size at 6’3″, 200 lbs.
The Cyclones continue to pound the baseball. Brooklyn (24-11) racked up 12 runs and 15 hits, to extend their home winning streak to 10 games. The win gives the Cyclones a 16-2 record at home this season. Every starter had at least one hit, and seven of the nine starters had an RBI. The Cyclones are averaging a NYPL high 5.8 runs per game. Hitting stars include:
Rylan Sandoval (2-3, HR, RBI, SB), Darrell Ceciliani (2-5, 2B, 3B, RBI), Cory Vaughn (1-3, 2RBI, 2BB, K), Jeff Flagg (2-4, 2B, 3B, 3RBI), Joe Bonfe (2-5, 2B, RBI), Brian Harrison (2-4, RBI), and J.B. Brown (2-4, 2B, 2RBI).
Kingsport (14-17) used a 4-run fifth inning, to propel themselves over Greenville 7-4. The big blow in that frame was by Patrick Farrell (1-4, 2RBI) with a 2-run single. Chase Greene (3-5, 2 runs), Nelfi Zapata (2-4, RBI), and John Semel (2-4) all had multi-hit games. Aderlin Rodriguez (1-3, 2 runs, 2B, RBI), Javier Rodriguez (1-2, 2B, RBI, BB, HBP), and Lucas Stewart (1-4, HR, RBI) also made offensive contributions.
Starter Eduardo Aldama picked up his first win of the season, pitching 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts.
Juan Urbina bounced back from a tough outing to pick up his 3rd win of the season. The 17-year old Urbina was very effective: 5 IP, 4h, 1er, 1BB, 6K. Urbina has had 4 really good starts (19 2/3 IP, 12h, 3er, 6BB, 19K) and 2 really bad starts (5 IP, 13h, 12er, 4BB, 5K). The one consistent thing that Urbina has done is miss bats (24 2/3 IP, 24K).
Zach Lutz maybe ready to head back north soon, with a 3-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI performance.
Julio Concepcion (2-4, 2B, HR, RBI) is now hitting .319/.354/.527. Over his last 10 games Concepcion is hitting .414/.500/.897.
Cory Vaughn manned up once again, and delivered his second consecutive game- winning RBI, as Brooklyn (23-11) defeated Lowell 4-3. Brooklyn is now 15-2 at home this season, and has a 9-game home winning streak.
After a Rylan Sandoval flyout, Darrell Ceciliani doubled to left field. Vaughn, who leads the NYPL in HR (9) and RBI (31), then singled home Ceciliani with a single to right-field. Vaughn finished the game 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI and his now hitting .326/.403/.620, with 16 BB and 22K. Vaughn currently owns a 10-game hitting streak, where he is 19-39 (.487/.543/.795) with 3 doubles, 3 homeruns, 11 RBI, 5BB/6K, and 4 SB.
Ceciliani racked up a 3-5 day with 3 runs scored, 2 2B, and 2 K, for the season he is hitting .383/.432/.526.
The Kingsport offense could only manage 3 hits, and one run, in a 2-1 loss to Bluefield. Javier Rodriguez (1-3, 2B) scored the only run of the game for the K-Mets, after his fifth inning lead-off double. Chase Greene (1-4) and Patrick Farrell (1-3) collected the other 2 K-Mets hits, both singles.
Michael Hebert (6 IP, 6h, 2er, 2BB/8K) and Steve Winnick (3 IP, 1h, 1K) were not good enough to overcome the K-Mets futile offense.
The story here was the pitching performances of Akeel Morris, Carlos Vazquez, and Tony Feliz.
Vazquez (5 IP, 4K) and Feliz (1 IP, 2K) pitched 6 perfect innings in relief of Morris.
Morris, the Mets 2010 10th round pick from the U.S. Virgin Islands, started and went three innings, giving up only two hit, one run, while walking none, and striking out four. The 17-year old Morris is missing bats so far, which is great (6IP, 6K this season). Morris is raw, but has a live arm, keep an eye on this one. Check out this video of Morris pitching in his native land:
SS-A: Staten Island Yankees 3, @ Brooklyn Cyclones 1
Kingsport (14-17) used a 4-run fifth inning, to propel themselves over Greenville 7-4. The big blow in that frame was by Patrick Farrell (1-4, 2RBI) with a 2-run single. Chase Greene (3-5, 2 runs), Nelfi Zapata (2-4, RBI), and John Semel (2-4) all had multi-hit games. Aderlin Rodriguez (1-3, 2 runs, 2B, RBI), Javier Rodriguez (1-2, 2B, RBI, BB, HBP), and Lucas Stewart (1-4, HR, RBI) also made offensive contributions.
SS-A: 
