Cypress Bay Gets Past Cooper City In Tough Battle

Close to 100 fans braved the frigid night air as they witnessed a district battle between the Cooper City Cowboys and the Cypress Bay Lightning Thursday. Playing on their home turf at Ron Bergeron Field, Cypress Bay beat the Cowboys 3-0 in the 8A-12 opener for both clubs.

Although the mercury dipped to just under 50 degrees, the two starting pitchers in this tilt brought heat. Joey Cutrone from the Cowboys used a combination of sneaky, quick fastballs and some off-speed stuff to keep the Lightning hitters off balance.

With 6’4″ starting pitcher Luis Sucre on the mound for Cypress Bay, zeroes on the scoreboard were the name of the game. Sucre was there to the final out. He had 11 strikeouts over seven innings while scattering six hits. He displayed a dominant fastball and followed it up with some timely off-speed pitches to put down the Cowboys whenever they showed signs of life.

“Luis had an awesome performance, he was great,” Cypress Bay Manager Paul Liotti said. “He told me, ‘Coach, you are not taking me out of the game’.”

Things were tight early on. Sucre scattered one hit and a walk in the first inning, before getting the third out with a blazing strikeout. He kept that momentum in the second by striking out the side. Cypress Bay managed a hit in the first two frames, but were unable to cross the plate. The Lightning broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third with a walk and an RBI double to left-center field by Jose Natera.

Now down by the score of 1-0, Cooper City got a rally going in the top of the fourth. With runners on first and second and two out, Sucre induced a high chopping ground ball that he snagged and tossed to first for the final out. Sucre sprinted off the field and gathered his teammates in front of the home dugout.

“I got the guys together and told them that we needed some energy and we needed some runs,” Sucre said, “That’s what we needed, bottom line.”

Cypress Bay (2-1) responded to this senior leadership by scoring two more runs in the fifth and sewing it up with solid defensive play in the field. “These guys are great behind me.” Sucre added, “They played great defensively.”

Cooper City (2-1) also played well in the field, turning two double plays and playing error-less ball. The Cowboys got two hits from junior third baseman Robert Shanley.

It was the Cypress Bay second baseman Natera who provided the punch for the Lightning. He went 3-for-3 and had two RBIs.

“This is a good win for us, all the guys rallied together,” Liotti said. “I hope it acts as a springboard.”

At the end of the game, both teams lined up to congratulate each other, as they knew they had battled. This time, the Lightning came out on top, but these district rivals will meet again this season.

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