Cyclones Pull Away Late in Series Opener

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (September 6, 2022) — The Brooklyn Cyclones pulled away late in a 6-2 win over the Winston-Salem Dash.

Winston-Salem got the early lead in the first game of the series, in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Andy Atwood worked a walk, then stole second base. A groundout pushed Atwood to third base, where he was able to score on a single from Colby Smelley to put the Dash up 1-0.

Brooklyn got that run back in top of the second, which began with a JT Schwartz single. A wild pitch allowed Schwartz to take second base. Then with two outs, Jose Mena lined a single to drive Schwartz home, which tied the game at a run apiece.

But in the bottom of the frame, Winston-Salem battled back. After two quick outs, Jason Matthews and Andy Atwood both singled. That brought up Alsander Womack, who put the Dash back in front with his single to score Matthews.

From the second inning on, both pitching staffs dialed it up a notch. Winston-Salem’s Tommy Sommer was electric once again; he fanned six Cyclones across six innings, while walking only one batter and allowing only one run. For Brooklyn, starter Christian Scott worked four solid frames with two runs against and five punchouts. Trey McLoughlin followed Scott out of the bullpen, and held the Dash off the board through 2.2 innings.

In the top of the seventh, the Dash replaced Sommer with the righty Chase Plymell. However, Plymell walked a pair of hitters and allowed a single before being replaced by Haylen Green. The southpaw Green allowed an RBI single to Shervyen Newton to tie the score at 2-2, before Matt Rudick added the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice groundout to second.

Brooklyn added on another run in the eighth, on an RBI double from Stanley Consuegra to pull ahead 4-2. Then in the ninth, Shervyen Newton crushed a two-run double to deep right to put the Cyclones up 6-2.

Winston-Salem did battle back in the ninth, putting a pair of runners aboard. Unfortunately, the Cyclones retired Caberea Weaver to secure a 6-2 win. McLoughlin got the official win, with Plymell suffering the loss.