BURLINGTON, VT — The top five hitters in the Lake Monsters batting order went a combined 13-for-23 with six runs and seven RBI as Vermont won its season-best fourth straight Futures League contest with a 7-5 victory over the Brockton Rox Tuesday night at historic Centennial Field.
Vermont trailed 5-4 with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the sixth inning when they bundled five straight singles together to retake the lead. Chone James (Virginia), Dawson Bryce (Merrimack) and Mark Quatrani (Cornell) each singled to tie the game, then after a Joe Marini (Catholic) infield single loaded the bases, Tommy Googins put the Lake Monsters in front with an RBI single to center.
James, Quatrani and Googins each had three of the Lake Monsters 15 hits in the game, while Quatrani, Googins and Bryce each finished with two RBI.
Quatrani got the scoring started with a solo home run in the fourth inning before the Rox tied it with an unearned run in fifth off Vermont starter Robbie Lee (Denison), who allowed just the one unearned run on three hits over five innings.
A Bryce two-run double and Googins RBI single game the Lake Monsters a 5-4 advantage in the bottom of the fifth, but Brockton scored four runs on three hits, three walks and two run-scoring wild pitches in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead,
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Goggins 3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
- Quatrani 3-for-5, R, HR, 2 RBI
- James 3-for-5, 2 RBI
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Lee retired first 11 batters he faced before allowing back-to-back 2-out infield singles in 4th (leadoff single in 5th scored on RBI groundout after a fielding error)
- Bryce scored 3 runs and James twice as Vermont scored 5+ runs for 5th straight game
- Eddie Kaftan (Catholic) allowed 3 inherited runners to score in 6th, but picked up win after retiring 4 of final 5 batters faced (leadoff single in 7th erased on double play)
- Matt Hirsch (Tufts) tossed scoreless 8th and Sean Gamble (Minnesota State) 1 strikeout in 1-2-3 9th for his 2nd save
BEYOND BOXSCORE
- Over last 6 games (including last Thursday’s suspended game), Vermont starting pitchers have allowed 6 runs (4 ER) on 14 hits over 25 combined innings (1.44 ERA)
- Quatrani homer was Vermont’s 13th as a team this season (23 games), matching the 13 total home runs hit by the Lake Monsters in 2023 (61 games)
- Lake Monsters have won 4 straight games for the 1st time this season and are over .500 (12-11) for the 1st time since June 5th when they were 5-4
Next Game: Wednesday June 26th, 5:35pm vs. Brockton
Broadcast Info: Streaming on FCBLnetwork.com