NEW BRITAIN, CT — Vermont sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the fourth to score its first five runs of the season and the Lake Monsters went on to win their third straight opener with an 8-4 victory over the New Britain Bees in Futures League action Wednesday night at New Britain Stadium.
James Henshon (Tufts), Aidan Botti (Cuesta) had RBI singles sandwiched around a Connor Vercollone (Saint Bonaventure) sacrifice fly before a Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) 2-run single capped off the top of the inning for a 5-0 lead.
Starter Brady Bendik (Navy) allowed a hit in each of the first four innings, including a one-out triple in the fourth inning. He left the game with two outs and runners on the corners in the fourth, finishing with one run allowed on four hits over 3.2 innings with one walk and five strikeouts.
Leandro Guevara (AIC) had a one-out triple and scored on a Zander Teator (Babson) sacrifice fly for 6-1 lead in 5th before Vermont built advantage to 8-1 in the sixth on a Sam Cavossa (St. Michael’s) RBI fielder’s choice and Cooper Berry (Pomona Pitzer) RBI single.
MONSTER PERFORMANCE
* Kingsbury 3-for-5, 2 RBI
* Botti 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI
* Guevara 2-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 3B
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
* After losing their first two lidlifters in 2021 and 2022, the Lake Monsters have now won each of their last 3 season openers
* Vermont outhit New Britain 12-8 with 8 of the 9 Lake Monster batters collecting at least 1 hit
* Adam Schwartz (Colby) 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, while Cole Tarrant (Hobart), Brady Lane (Brandeis) and Matt Higgins (Colby) each tossed a scoreless inning.
Next Game: Thursday at New Britain, 10:35am
Home Opener: Saturday vs. Worcester, 3:05pm