For the first time ever in the team’s 17-year history in Staten Island they are 4-0 to start the season, surpassing the 3-0 start which was the previous mark the team had in 2006. That year they went on to when their second-consecutive and fourth overall league titles.
Freicer Perez, the 20-year old right-handed pitcher out of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, got the start for Staten Island. Not only was it his first game with the Staten Island Yankees but it was also his first professional game in the United States, after having played all of 2015 with the Dominican Summer League Yankees.
Perez was impressive, playing under the lights and in front of an intimate crowd of 1,776 fans did not seem to faze him as he went 5 2/3 innings allowing just 1 run on a homerun and 4 hits while striking out 5 batters and not allowing a walk. That homerun, a fly ball to centerfield that just hit the top of the wall and bounced back into the field, was the only Aberdeen run of the ballgame.
The Baby Bombers struck first on the scoreboard with 3 runs in the bottom of the second inning. Kane Sweeny started it off with a fly ball double to left, Mandy Alvarez then walked with one-out before both came home on a line drive double to left by Timmy Robinson. Kendall Coleman then reached on a fielding error by the first baseman that allowed Robinson to score.
After the homerun in the top of the sixth inning the Yankees answered in their half of the inning with a run of their own. Luis Torrens started it off with a line drive single to left, moved to third on a single by Drew Bridges and came home to score on a sac fly by Mandy Alvarez.
Staten Island was not done there, adding an additional run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Luis Torrens hit a one-out ground-rule double to right-centerfield and after Kane Sweeney reached via a fielding error, Drew Bridges walked to load the bases. Mandy Alvarez then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Torrens, giving SI the 5-1 lead.
Back on the mound David Sosebee took over for Freicer Perez in the sixth inning and pitched 1 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball and striking out 1 batter. He was lifted for Justin Kamplain in the top of the eighth inning and Kamplain continued his strong start to the season with 2 more shutout innings and 4 more strike outs.
The Staten Island Yankees will go for the sweep on Tuesday night with Simon De La Rosa scheduled to start the game for the Baby Bombers.
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