VINTAGE!
Justin Putnal dominates Royals with vintage outing

September 14, 2026 - 10 pitches into Sunday's game against the retuning champion Houston Royals, the Houston Cyclones had themselves a 3-0 lead. 2 batters later, it was 4-0. After Justin Putnal started his afternoon by striking out the side, the Cyclones got back to work in the top half of the 2nd inning. The first 2 batters of the inning walked and then Adam Ewing singled on an infield hit to 2nd base loading the bases for Eddie Baray. Eddie drives his 2nd consecutive double to deep right-center field plating 2 runners.  Tom West singled for the 2nd time in 2 innings also plating 2 runners and the Cyclones were now up 8-0. On a 1-1 pitch, newcomer Freddy Villalobos hit a deep fly ball to left-center field that cleared the fence by a good 20 feet for his 2nd HR of the season to put the Cyclones up 10-0. In the bottom half of the 2nd inning, Putnal allowed 1 run to score without giving up a hit.

The Cyclones would go on to score 3 more runs the rest of the way while Justin and the Cyclones allowed only 1 more run to defeat the Royals 13-2. Putnal struck out 8 Royals on the afternoon, but struggled with his command from time to time on the afternoon, but was able to work out of most trouble.

ALIEN TAKEOVER
Cyclones Tournament team goes 3-1 over the weekend, but falls to Aliens in finals

September 8, 2026 - A 3-way tie between the Aliens, Cyclones and Royals came down to Runs Allowed to determine the 2 teams that would make the finals. In the end, the Aliens allowed 18 runs, the Cyclones allowed 19 runs and the Royals allowed 29.  That gave the edge to the Aliens and Cyclones.

With the Aliens the Home Team and the Cyclones playing the part of visitors, the two teams were pretty evenly matched despite the Cyclones holding the age & experience edge. The Aliens drew first blood as they plated 1 run in the bottom half of the first.  But the Cyclones took the lead 3-1 in the top of the 3rd inning but not without some controversy. With the Cyclones leading 2-1 with runners on 2nd & 3rd and Justin Putnal batting with a 3-2 count, the starting pitcher for the Aliens unleashed a wild pitch that walked Justin. However since it was a 3-2 count and 2 outs, the runners were in motion and because of the wild pitch, Andre Vappie, who was the runner on 2nd, motored towards home plate in an attempt to catch the Aliens off guard and score a run. The plan worked and Dre sneaked his hand in on a diving plate at the plate that saw the starting pitcher get ejected after sharing some words of affection with the home plate umpire. THe ejection resulted in a stoppage of play due to an extended argument.

In the bottom half of the 3rd inning, the Aliens roared back with 4 runs of their own to retake the lead of which they would not relinquish. The Cyclones would score runs in each of the next 3 innings, but so would the Aliens and in the end, the Aliens emerged victorious and the 2026 Texas Cup Champions. Congratulations to the Aliens on winnings the 2026 Texas Cup Tournament. We'll see you next year!

Sergio Mendez about to deliver a changeup during the 2026 Texas Cup vs. SE Texas Astros Sept 5, 2026

Guy Koenig hits a line drive vs. SE Texas Astros Sept 5, 2026

DOUBLE DRUBBING
Cyclones take both games of their double header over 55+ Division teams.

August 30, 2026 - On a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon, the Houston Cyclones won both ends of a double header thanks in part to BJ Galvan, Freddy Villalobos, Blaine Grantham and Camilo Galvez having outstanding performances. In game one, it was BJ and Freddy who between them drove in 7 runs to lead the Cyclones to an 11-2 victory over the Houston Tigers of the 55+ Division. BJ went 3-3, w/ 2 runs scored and 4 RBI including a bases clearing double. Freddy was also 3-3 with a single, double and a homer, finishing a triple shy of a cycle along with 3 RBI. Dean Cosme earned the win for the Cyclones as he surrendered 10 hits and 2 runs over 7 innings pitched, walking 2 and striking out 1.

In the nightcap, Blaine Grantham and Camilo Galvez lead the charge for the Cyclones as they demolished the Houston Hombres of the 55+ division. Blaine led the charge in game 2 going 5-5 w/ a double and a run scored. Blaine's 5 hits were the most in a game for the Cyclones since Priamo Reyes had 5 in a game back in 2018. Meanwhile Camilo went 2-3 w/ a run scored, and 4 RBI including a bases clearing triple, a walk and a stolen base. Justin Putnal earned the game two win going 3 innings while surrendering 4 runs on 4 hits, 4 walks and a strikeout. Andrew Figueroa came on in relief of Justin and hurled 2 scoreless innings allowing 1 hit while striking out 3.

*parts of this story were adapted from the Game Changer recap

Starting pitcher Justin Putnal delivers a pitch vs. Hombres August 30, 2026

SEASON OPENER COMES UP SHORT
A regrouped Cyclones that features a few new faces comes up short on Opening Day

August 24, 2026 - The Houston Cyclones could not keep pace with the Marauders on blazing hot afternoon at Meyer Park. The Marauders opened the scoring in the top of the first courtesy of 2 singles to take a 2-0 lead. The Cyclones answered back right away tying the game at 2 on a single by Guy Koenig and a SAC FLY by Camilo Galvez. The game held steady until the 4th inning when the Marauders scored another 2 runs to go up 4-2. The Cyclones once again answered right back when BJ Galvan hit a 2 run bomb to center field to tie the game at 4.

In the 6th inning, the Cyclones finally took a lead when Chad Tineo scored the go ahead run on an error during a fielder's choice play. But the lead wouldn't last long as the Marauders flipped the game on its head in the 7th inning scoring 5 unanswered runs on 4 hits and a HBP.

After getting the disappointing end to last season that saw the Cyclones fail to reach the Championship game for the first time in 8 seasons, the expectations going into this season were a little higher than normal. Except, those expectations weren't relayed to the team. The team took the field Sunday like it was the middle of a long drawn out season. Things need to change.

*parts of this story were adapted from the Game Changer recap

Cyclones Manager and starting pitcher Dean Cosme delivers a pitch vs. Marauders August 23, 2026