Storming on: Cyclones advance to playoff with doubleheader sweep

It's official, the Cyclones are headed to the 2010 post-season. With two convincing victories over the Swingers (3-7) the Cyclones (5-5) evened their record to .500 on the season, their best finish since 2009. In the process, and in a way some players called "redemption", they eliminated Albert Cortes and the Swingers who needed to win one game to keep their playoff hopes alive. Instead, the Cyclones, backed by strong starting pitching from both Joe Leeman (1-0, 4.30) and John Homenuk (2-1, 0.36) and timely hitting, won both games to advance.

Game 1 started well and ended well for the Cyclones. In the first inning, John Homenuk tripled with one out, followed by an RBI from J.J Dagostaro. That was not the end of it, as Jorge Cruz followed with an RBI hit to plate Dagostaro. The Cyclones jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and would not be back. The Swingers were able to chip away at the lead, and in the 6th inning Miguel Munoz called upon closer Jorge Cruz to get a six out save. Cruz promptly served up a long solo home run to Albert Cortes, but was able to escape further trouble and held the Swingers at 7-5 once they brought the tying run into scoring position. Cruz picked up his first save of the year, and gave up his first earned run on the Cortes home run, although his ERA still remained near 1.





Game 2 did not start as well for the Cyclones--with several fielding blunders opening the flood gates for the Swingers. Fielding errors by Leeman and Dagostaro allowed four runs to score in the first two innings. In total, the Cyclones commited five errors in the first two innings. A visibly upset starter, John Homenuk, stated "we need to make the plays, or else we have no chance". Homenuk was able to keep the damage from getting worse, holding the Swingers to four runs and working through the fourth inning. The Cyclones offense rallied off Cortes, and erupted in the 4th with several players striking well hit extra base hits. The lead was enough for J.J Dagostaro, who pitched the 5th after Homenuk departed with 92 pitches through 4 innings. The Cyclones were able to inflict the mercy rule on the Swingers in the 5th inning, when they scored 5 runs to bury the Swingers and their playoff hopes.

The double header sweep sets up a thrilling Halloween Weekend for the Cyclones, as they play a do or die game against the Monmouth Nomads on Saturday October 30th. Manager Miguel Munoz has announced John Homenuk (2-1, 0.36) as the starting pitcher, while the Nomads have announced Mike Collins (3-1, 0.36) as their starter. The two pitchers have enjoyed similarly dominant seasons, sporting terrific ERA's under a half a run. It remains to be seen if the Cyclones can continue their winning streak, but it certainly seems like the team is clicking, with 22 runs scored in their last two games.