NORWICH, CT — The Vermont Lake Monsters scored five times in both the fourth and fifth innings to defeat the Norwich Sea Unicorns 11-0 in a Futures League game shortened to seven innings by the 10-run rule Thursday night at Dodd Stadium.
Vermont led 1-0 through three innings when they loaded the bases with one out in the fourth on a pair of walks sandwiched around a walk before plating the five runs with the help of five straight base hits. The first was a bases clearing line drive double down the rightfield line from Thomas O’Connell (VIrginia), who was making his Lake Monsters debut.
Two batters later O’Connell scored from third on a Sam Cavossa (Saint Michael’s) RBI single and Shaun McMillan (St. John’s) added an RBI double for the second straight game for a 6-0 lead.
Vermont then used a couple of Norwich fielding errors in the fifth inning to help score five more runs, including a Cavossa RBI infield single and a Bryan Richman (Pasadena CC) two-run single for the 11-0 lead.
Starter John Delgado (Stevenson) allowed just two hits with two walks and five strikeouts over five shutout innings to earn the win, while Jack Kelleher (Northern Essex CC) and Emmit Christian (Tufts) both had a scoreless frame in their Vermont debuts to initiate the seven-inning mercy rule.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
* Delgado (W) 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO|
* McMillan 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI
* Cavossa 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI
|* Richman 2-for-3, BB, R, 2 RBI
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
* 1st Lake Monsters 10-run “mercy rule” victory since July 30, 2023 vs. Nashua |
* Vermont now 15-1 all-time in games decided by 10-run rule, including 12 straight (6 in 2022, 5 in 2023)
* 2nd shutout victory of the season for Vermont, which had just 1 shutout win all of 2024
* Lake Monsters with 20 runs on 28 hits over last 2 games at Norwich (7 runs, 20 hits total previous 5)
* Cavossa has now hit safely in all 7 games played this season and .429 overall (12-for-28)
Next Game: Friday vs. Westfield, 6:35pm (Rally Towel Giveaway to first 1,000)