September 14, 2009 – In front of 734 fans the Staten Island Yankees defeated the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the opening game of the 2009 NY-Penn League Championship Series, 3-0
In the bottom of the first inning the Staten Island Yankees took the lead. Jimmy Paredes started it off with a single then went to third on a single by DeAngelo Mack. Luke Murton then sent the ball to centerfield for a sacrifice fly, giving the Yankees the 1-0 lead.
The Yankees added another run in the bottom of the second inning; Kyle Higashioka singled and moved to third on a double to Mike Lyon. Kelvin Castro then hit a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning first baseman made an incredible diving play to his left to rob Chun-Hsui Chen of a base hit.
Staten Island starter Adam Warren pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 on 92 pitches, 58 for strikes. He was followed by reliever Griffin Bailey who pitched out of a jam in his lone inning of work, he allowed a double and single before striking out the next two and getting a force out at second. In the inning Bailey threw 18 pitches, 13 for strikes.
Setup man Gavin Brooks came into the game in the eighth inning, tossing a perfect inning. He had a strike out sandwiched between two ground outs. Brooks threw only 8 pitches in his appearance, 5 for strikes.
In the bottom of the eighth the Baby Bombers added one more to their run total when Zoilo Almonte launched the ball to centerfield, hitting off the batter’s eye for a homerun. With the homer the Yankees now had a 3-0 lead.
Closer Ryan Flannery finished the game off for the Yankees earning the save, his second of the post season. In his lone inning of work a runner reached on an error then a double put two men in scoring position before a pop out, a ground out to the pitcher and a ground out to the shortstop ended the game.
As soon as the game ended the Staten Island Yankees and Mahoning Valley Scrappers had to board their respective buses to head to Niles, Ohio for the rest of the series. Sean Black will get the start in game two.