STATEN ISLAND, NY- As in a well known song played over the sound system, the lion certainly lied awake in the jungle today. Staten Island Yankee designated hitter Mike Lyon’s big two out seventh inning hit helped the home club tame the Tigers 5-3 bouncing back from an error filled loss the previous night before a packed house of 7,171 on Kids Camp Day at Richmond County Bank Ball Park at the Ferry Terminal.

“The kid made a tough pitch. Got me out a little in front. I was actually going to fight it off. I saw it was in the zone and so I just tried to get out. You know. It’s baseball. It worked out for me. So it was good to get the lead and then hold them there,” he explained at his locker after another productive day reaching base three times finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored and the deciding RBI.

“Our defense was pretty bad last night but it still was a close game considering what happened but that’s baseball. One day the defense can be down. One day the hitting might be down and one day everything will be down. Pitching. Everything. So we pick each other up and the next day get back on a winning streak,” he pointed out after helping the Baby Bombers to their 11th win in the last 12 including seven of eight at home.

The hit came at the right time as the Bomber bats had cooled off after getting off to a quick start with three in the first highlighted by David Adams and Dan Brewer runscoring doubles plus an RBI groundout from third baseman Braedyn Pruitt.

When it looked like Oneonta pitchers would toss a sixth straight zero by retiring the first two Staten Island batters, the Bombers sprung to life thanks to some wildness from pitcher Aaron Fuhrman, who plunked Adams and then allowed the second baseman to move up a base on a wild pitch setting the stage for Lyon to deliver by just getting enough of the bat on a tough outside pitch placing it between second and right allowing the go-ahead run to come in.

“Coming back for this early game here, it’s tough to get back up after a loss like that with seven errors on defense. You know playing almost 12 hours later. 11 o’clock start but we got our bats back in order like we were on that win streak and just came through with a clutch hit and the breaks went our way. Everything worked out.”

“We had to wake up at 6:45. It’s a little bit different schedule than we’re used to. I mean once you get out there and start playing, get the lead and wash it away,” teammate Pruitt added of the quick turnaround.

Despite some shaky D on back-to-back sacrifices including an error by catcher Steve Strausbaugh which put reliever Josue Selenes in a bases loaded no out jam, Staten Island caught a huge break when Billy Nowlin lined back to the pitcher, who then got the benefit of a call at third nailing Bryan Pounds for a 1-5 double play. Selenes then kept his perfect ERA intact by getting Tyler Weber to harmlessly fly out to Melky Mesa ending it.

“The coach was rather adamant about the disagreement with the call. I’m not going to make a judgment one way or the other but hey. Sometimes the breaks go your way. Fortunately for us, today was our day,” Pruitt noted of the heated discussion which took place as he stood and watched the umpire send Pounds back to the dugout.

Once they came back up to bat, there was no doubting the Bombers’ killer instinct as they strung together three consecutive hits to start the home half to pickup a key insurance run. Strausbaugh got it started by beating out an infield hit and then left fielder Taylor Grote stroked a double into the right field corner putting runners in scoring position. First baseman Jahdiel Santamaria singled home Strausbaugh making it 5-3 before Oneonta’s Anthony Shawler escaped further damage by striking out two of the next three batters.

“It was good to get a couple of runs late.” 

Closer Pat Venditte came in and retired the side in order getting the final batter Ben Guez swinging to notch his sixth save.

Notes: Though he didn’t get a decision, S.I. starter Brad Braboy was solid working the first five while allowing two runs (1 ER) on six hits while striking out a couple. … Despite allowing a tying solo home run to Nowlin which hit off the batting eye in center, Bomber reliever Drew Shetrone picked up the win going two innings while improving to 1-1. … The two, three and four hitters all finished with a couple of hits each as Adams, Lyon and Brewer combined to go 6-for-10 with three doubles, three runs scored and three RBI’s. Adams is 6-for-9 in the series with a trio of two-baggers, runs and runs knocked in. … Fuhrman (2-2) suffered the loss for Oneonta allowing the winning run on four hits in four frames while K-ing three. … The game which was the fifth sellout of the summer took a manageable two hours and thirty six minutes. … Injured SS Addison Maruszak said he was “feeling a lot better” and close to returning. … The rubber match of the series is tomorrow night.