Victory on Opening Day for the Staten Island Yankees

The Staten Island Yankees opened their season Friday with a 20 inning marathon, eventually defeating the Brooklyn Cyclones 3-2 on Ricardo Ferreira’s sacrifice fly to score 2016 eighth round pick Dalton Blaser.

After some early scoring, the two clubs traded scoreless frames for 15 innings. The Staten Island Yankees used six pitchers on the night, a strong performance from Opening Day starter Adonis Rosa. The 21-year-old Rosa had six strikeouts and no walks while allowing two earned in his six innings of work. He had a 3.72 in 11 starts for the Pulaski Yankees in the Appalachian League last season.

The Baby Bombers’ relief corps was fantastic Friday, with David Sosebee, Justin Kamplain, Michael Schaub, Eduardo Rivera, and Claudio Custodio combining for 13 strikeouts in 14 shutout innings. The Brooklyn Cyclones did not fare as well, having to use 10 pitchers to cover their own 10 innings, including two position players.

The big news of the night was the 2016 debut of the Yankees number 12 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, catcher Luis Torrens. Still just 20 years old, Torrens missed the entire 2015 campaign following shoulder surgery. He went 2-for-5 before being lifted in the 13th inning. This will be his second go-round with the Baby Bombers. He hit .270/.327/.405 in 202 plate appearances as an 18-year-old for Staten Island back in 2014.

The other high-ranking prospect with the 2016 Baby Bombers, 19-year-old starting pitcher Drew Finley, didn’t pitch Friday night. Ranked 16th in the system by MLB Pipeline, Finley was taken in the third round of last year’s draft and had a 3.94 ERA in 12 starts for Pulaski in 2015. He’s regarded as having one of the best curveballs in the Yankees’ system, which he pairs with a low-90’s fastball that has excellent movement.

Three of New York’s selections in the 2016 amateur draft made their professional debuts Friday. Backup catcher Keith Skinner, their seventh round pick, came in to replace Torrens, and went 0-for-4. Eighth round pick Dalton Blaser played right field and went 4-for-6 with two walks and a run scored. 17th rounder Mandy Alvarez was 3-for-8 with a walk, a double, and an RBI. More Yankees draft picks are expected to join the Staten Island Yankees as they sign in the coming weeks, including second round pick Nick Solak, who is expected to reach an official agreement with New York on Monday

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