BURLINGTON, VT — After giving up a pair of runs in the top of the 10th, the Vermont Lake Monsters responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to defeat the New Britain Bees 9-8 in Futures League action Wednesday night on the Delta Dental Diamond at historic Centennial Field.
After Vermont scored three runs in the third to take a 3-2 lead, the game stayed quiet until the late innings when the Lake Monsters had leads of 4-2 and 5-3 erased by a New Britain three-run top of the eighth that gave the Bees a 6-5 advantage.
The Lake Monsters were able to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth on a one-out RBI single from Sam Cavossa (Saint Michael’s) that scored Cooper Berry (Pomona Pitzer), who had opened the inning with a single and stole second base.
In the 10th with a placed runner on second to start the inning, the Bees scored quickly on a leadoff triple by Colin Crowley, who later scored on a fielder’s choice grounder, and had the bases loaded before Jack McLaughlin (Tufts) came out of the Vermont bullpen to get a strikeout to end the frame 8-6 New Britain.
Vermont quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th on a hit batter and walk before scoring on a Shaun McMillan (St. John’s) fielder’s choice/throwing error that kept the bases loaded followed by a Bryan Richman (Pasadena CC) RBI infield single to tie the game. After a strikeout, Masai Marshall (Northwestern) walked on five pitches to force home Cavossa with the walkoff run.
MONSTER PERFORMANCE
* Cavossa 2-for-5, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI
* Richman 2-for-6, 2 RBI
* Brady Bendik (Navy) 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
* McMillan extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an infield single in the 1st inning
* Lake Monsters first 10-inning game since July 19, 2023 vs. New Britain (4-3 loss) and first placed runner at 2nd base to start 10th inning (began in FCBL last season)
* Marshall and Will Mahala (Virginia), who was 1-for-5 with RBI double, both made their Lake Monsters debut
Next Game: Thursday vs. New Britain, 6:35pm
Promotion: First Responders Night