21-year-old smashes first long ball of the season, but Brooklyn drops third-straight
SAL Brooklyn Cyclones

21-year-old smashes first long ball of the season, but Brooklyn drops third-straight

Published on May 7, 2026 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Brooklyn Cyclones News Release


BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - 3B Colin Houck belted his first home run of the season, but the Brooklyn Cyclones fell to the Bowling Green Hot Rods, 9-2, on Thursday night at Bowling Green Ballpark. DH Ryan McCoy homered twice, and RF Connor Hujsak drove in five runs to lead Bowling Green's offense.

The Hot Rods (19-10) posted another big first inning for the second straight night. SS Adrian Santana was hit by a pitch to open the frame, but after a fly out and a caught stealing, Bowling Green appeared poised to come away empty-handed.

Instead, the Hot Rods capitalized on command issues, loading the bases with two walks and another hit-by-pitch. Hujsak then crushed the second pitch of his at-bat over the left-center field wall for a grand slam. His seventh home run of the season gave Bowling Green an early 4-0 lead.

Brooklyn (7-21) answered in the second inning. DH Daiverson Gutiérrez drew a five-pitch walk to begin the frame before Houck launched an 0-1 pitch well beyond the left-field fence for a two-run homer. The 21-year-old's first long ball of the season cut the deficit to 4-2.

Alas, that was as close as the Cyclones would get the rest of the night.

McCoy opened Bowling Green's half of the fourth inning with a solo home run to right field, extending the lead to 5-2 with his second homer of the year.

The Hot Rods added an unearned run in the sixth. McCoy started the inning with a leadoff double down the right-field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs. Brooklyn appeared to escape the inning after CF Theo Gillen hit a pop-up to left. However, the ball was dropped in the outfield, allowing McCoy to score and Gillen to end up at second, pushing the lead to 6-2.

Bowling Green put the game away in the seventh. 2B Émilien Pitre walked and stole second to start the frame before moving to third on a one-out throwing error during a pickoff attempt by the catcher. Hujsak followed with a sacrifice fly to center.

After a two-out walk to LF Ángel Mateo, McCoy struck again. The Louisville product hammered a 3-1 pitch over the right-center field wall for a two-run homer - his second of the night and third of the season - to cap the scoring at 9-2.

RHP José Urbina (1-3) earned his first High-A victory for the Hot Rods, yielding two runs on six hits over 6.0 innings. The Caracas, Venezuela native walked two and punched out six.

Despite tossing a season-high 4.1 innings, RHP Jonathan Jiménez (0-4) was saddled with his fourth loss of the campaign. The Brooklyn starter issued five runs on six hits, walking three and striking out three.

The Cyclones will try to snap their three-game slide on Friday night. RHP Channing Austin (0-1, 1.21) is expected to make the start for Brooklyn. Bowling Green is scheduled to counter with the Tampa Bay Rays' No. 5 prospect per MLB Pipeline, RHP Anderson Brito (2-1, 3.86). The first pitch from Bowling Green Ballpark is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 7, 2026


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