Brooklyn, New York
Thursday, August 2nd
A day trip with the entire family took us to one of our favorite destinations - Coney Island! This would be Sara and Andrew's first trip to the iconic New York locale. Left Thursday morn and made the drive straight through to Coney Island, parking in the lot next to MCU Park. We went to Luna Park first, Sara and I going on the 'Brooklyn Flyer' to start off the day. We actually headed back to the 'Scream Zone' after that, and the kids went on the 'Soarin Eagle' and 'Steeplechase' before driving around on the 'Coney Island Speedway'.
Time for lunch at that point, so we hit up a classic Coney Island Boardwalk eatery - Ruby's Bar and Grill. After lunch, we spent the rest of the credits we had on rides in both parks, and after that Sara, Andrew, and I went on the Wonder Wheel! Did some walking along the pier before getting in line for the Cyclones game (Jersday Thursday and Irish Night = a long line!). Stayed until our usual point in the game before heading out.
One last stop before we hit the road home - Nathan's Famous of course! Filled up on hot dogs and other fried goodness we hopped in the car and headed home, back in Bingo around 2:30 or so.
Connecticut Tigers 11, Brooklyn Cyclones 3
Brooklyn, NY - August 2nd - After Luis Mateo struck out the first four batters of the game, he struggled through the next four innings as the Cyclones fell to the Tigers, 11-3. With the Hudson Valley Renegades beating State College, the Cyclones are now three games out of first place in the McNamara Division, but remain in the lead for the NYPL Wild Card.
After Brandon Nimmo struck out to start the first, Phillip Evans hit a double to left field. After a wild pitch by Hua-Wei Lo, Evans was on third with two outs and Kevin Plawecki singled him in. for the early 1-0 lead.
After the fourth consecutive strikeout of the game for Mateo, he gave up a one-out double down the right field line to Devon Travis. Tyler Hanover then grounded out to second baseman Jeff Reynolds, moving Travis to third, now with two outs. Zach Kirksey then singled to right, scoring Travis and tying the game at 1-1.
After the Tigers added on another run in the third to make it a 2-1 lead, the fifth inning is where Connecticut blew the game open. After Jake Stewart and Danry Vasquez were retired for the first two outs, Patrick Smith started the two out rally by singling to right field. Travis then came up and also singled to right field, allowing Smith to reach third base. With runners on the corners, Hanover knocked in Smith and moved Travis to second. Zach Kirskey then stepped to the plate and tripled to the right center field triangle to score both runners, and give the Tigers a 5-1 lead.
In the eighth inning Devon Travus and Tyler Hanover hit back-to-back home runs to left field to make the score 11-2. The Cyclones bullpen struggled in this game as they gave up six runs over the final three innings of play. Of these six runs, only two were earned, but the bullpen did give up six hits and hit one batter. The Cyclones pitching staff looks to redeem themselves tomorrow as Luis Cessa takes the mound.
Trip Notes:
Our seats for the Cyclones game were Box 21, Row R, Seats 7-8 and Box 21, Row Q, Seats 6-7-8.