Joseph Torres in the outfield The U-9 Cyclones found themselves in unfamiliar territory Monday night. After two hard fought games over the weekend against squads from East Williston, the Cyclones were down four runs to a tenacious Mineola Mustangs team. It was gut check time. Cyclones Manager Tom "Knute" Granville gathered the troops and in his usual soft spoken manner told his team "win or lose, leave it on the field boys. Give me your best".

The Cyclones responded. Marty "The Master of Disaster" Waters hurled two superb innings and sparked a rally at the plate in the fourth inning to put the Cyclones ahead. Cyclones' pitchers, Brian "Big Train" Goulard, Raymond "Oil Can" Leto and Patrick "Dontrelle" Gibbons, tamed the Mustangs' bats to seal the victory for the Cyclones.

Marty Waters, Brian Goulard, Bobby Clarke and Matthew Roger Key hits were provided by Bobby "I can't believe this kid is 8" Clarke, Hammerin' Zack Stamoulis, Johnny "The Splendid Splinter" Dehler, James "Crime Dog" Amato and Matthew "Wild Thing" Rogers. Gold glove performances were turned in by Ryan "The Little Unit" Smith, Jonathan "Nails" Granville, and "Shoeless" Joe Torres.

Although ESPN was unwilling to disclose any programming details from the Cyclones' weekend games, rumors are circulating that the following plays may appear on ESPN's Top 10: (1) Torres' play at third base robbing a certain triple (as good as David Wright's bare handed grab) (2) Granville's pitching performance after being hit by a pitch in the prior inning, and (3) Dehler almost going yard (as an 8 year old).

Pat Gibbons pitches another great game The Cyclones will now return to school for a much needed rest. Next weekend, the dream season continues.

Matthew Rogers, John Dehler, James Amato and Jonathan GranvilleRyan Smith after reaching home