WORCESTER, MA — The Lake Monsters rallied from a two-run deficit with RBI singles from Chone James and Joe Marini in the top of the eight inning to tie the game before a Jeter Polledo two-out RBI single in the ninth led Vermont to a 5-4 Futures League victory Saturday night at Fitton Field.
Vermont trailed 4-2 in the eighth when James (Virginia) and Marini (Catholic) put together back-to-back one-out RBI singles to tie the game. Then in the ninth, Colby Brouillette (Central Connecticut) reached on an error to leadoff the inning and later scored the go ahead run on the Polledo (Wake Forest) line drive two-out RBI single to center.
Polledo and James both had two hits on the night, including a leadoff homer for James to start the game. Sean Gamble (Minnesota State) recorded the final out of the eighth and worked around a two-out double in the ninth to strand the tying run at third with a game-ending strikeout for the win.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- James 2-for-4, BB, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI
- Polledo 2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 SB
- Gamble (W) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- James’ homer was Vermont’s first home run to leadoff a game since August 18, 2014 when former MLBer Yario Munoz leadoff game at Staten Island with homer
- Vermont’s other run scored by Wyatt Patchett (Le Moyne) on wild pitch in 3rd
- Worcester 2-run bottom 1st and single runs in 2nd & 4th innings for 4-2 lead
- 6 Lake Monster pitchers combined for 1 walk and 7 strikeouts
BEYOND BOXSCORE
- Vermont bullpen has allowed 1 earned run over its last 22 innings (12 hits, 2 walks, 25 strikeouts)
- Win marked 3rd time this season that the Lake Monsters have won when trailing after 7 innings (other 2 times were first 2 games of the season)
- Vermont is 8-9 overall (6-2 when scoring 5 or more runs)
Next Game: Sunday, 4:00pm at Worcester (FCBLnetwork.com)
New Home Game: Tuesday June 18th 6:35pm vs. Westfield (Hot Dog Hysteria)