Cyclones take contest from Warriors
Published 8:13 am Thursday, June 6, 2019
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Happy Valley Coach Doug Ward high fives one of his players for encouragement.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde #54 AJ gets ahold of one to center field for a base hit.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Third baseman for Happy Valley J. Ward goes for a grounder that would lead to a base hit for the Cyclones.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Caden Campbell is safe at second after a steal for Happy Valley.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde #14 for the Cyclones B. Rowland fields a well hit ball to center field by Happy Valley.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Caden Campbell for Happy Valley goes for third after an error by the Cyclones.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Caden Campbell for the Warriors goes for third after an error but comes up short.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Caden Campbell for the Warriors fields a well hit ball to center field by the Cylcones
Despite having little or no practice time the Cyclones looked like a well-oiled machine on Tuesday in American Legion 15U baseball action at T.A. Dugger. The Cyclones opened with a three-run first inning and went on to register an 11-4 victory over the Warriors.
“We have been hitting the ball pretty good considering we’ve had no practice time,” Cyclones manager Brad Johnson said. “We got a good group of kids that really enjoy playing. Morgan (Lyons) pitched real good and he’s one of our older kids. We are full of pitchers and Hayden (Nave) hasn’t pitched at all but he did a good job. I’m proud of them.”
Lyons drove a double to left field in the last of the first after setting the Warriors down in order in the top of the frame. His two-bagger plated two runs and staked the Cyclones to a 3-0 first inning lead.
The Warriors manufactured a run in the second after A.J. Andrews singled and Cayden Campbell walked they executed a perfect double steal from first and third to make it a 3-1 contest. The Cyclones countered with five runs in the last of the second with three Warrior errors playing a big part in the rally as the Cyclones managed just two hits to produce an 8-1 lead.
It was 8-2 after the top of the third and the Cyclones added to the lead with Nave collecting an RBI double and an infield error by the Warriors allowed another run to come across as the Cyclones now led 10-2.
The Warriors got a pair of runs in the fourth — one on an RBI bases loaded walk by Campbell — as they cut the deficit to 10-4, but the Cyclones tacked on one more run in the last of the fourth.
This game came on the heels of a 34-2 drubbing by Diamond Elite but Warriors manager Kevin Ward thinks his team is headed in the right direction saying, “We brought a couple extra kids in to help us out. We got a real young team of mostly 12 and 13-year-olds, but we’re getting there. I think we’re getting there and the next time we see Diamond Elite, I think we’ll give them a game. As good as they are, I know that if we get out there and play with our heads up we’ll give them a game.”
American Legion 15U
Cyclones 11-4
Warriors 011 20 – 4 2
Cyclones 352 1x – 11 5
W – Morgan Lyons
L – Jason Ward
