NEW BRITAIN, CT — Chone James and Tyler Favretto both had two hits, including RBI singles in the top of the eighth inning to snap a 4-4 tie and lead the Vermont Lake Monsters to a 6-4 victory over the New Britain Bees in Futures League action Wednesday night at New Britain Stadium.
James (Virginia), who had broken an 0-for-18 slump with a leadoff triple and run scored in the second inning that gave Vermont an early 4-0 lead, snapped the 4-4 tie with a two-out RBI groundball single to left that scored Owen McKiernan (Tufts) who had walked to leadoff eighth. After a wild pitch, Favretto (Kansas Wesleyan) followed with an RBI single to right.
Favretto and Eric Jeon (Columbia) had opened the game with back-to-back doubles before two-out RBI double from Zander Teator (Babson) and RBI single from Jackson Sirois (Virginia) to cap a three-run first inning.
The Bees slowly got back into the game with four walks by Vermont starter Will Harrigan (Columbia) in the bottom of the third before back-to-back tripled and an RBI ground in the fourth cut the deficit to 4-3. New Britain then tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a leadoff walk and two-out RBI single.
After Vermont took the lead in the eighth, Sean Gamble (Minnesota State) tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning and worked around a pair of two-out singles in the ninth with a strikeout to end the game for his fourth save of the season.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Eddie Kaftan (Catholic) 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO to earn 2nd win
- James 2-for-4, 2 R, 3B, RBI
- Favretto 2-for-4, BB, R, 2B, RBI
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Kaftan recorded final out of 4th, then allowed double in 5th, single in 6th before walk and RBI single that tied game in 7th
- James triple in 2nd inning was just the 2nd triple of the season for the Lake Monsters
- Harrigan did not allow a hit over his 3 innings in start, but did walk 6 batters with 1 strikeout
BEYOND BOXSCORE
- Sirois 2-for-3 with RBI and has hit safely in 11 of last 12 games started (14×46, .304)
- Jeon, who also had sac fly for 2-RBI game, has now hit safety in 15 straight games started, going 21-for-59 (.356)
- Vermont had lost its last 4 games vs. New Britain, including first 3 matchups this season, but the Lake Monsters are now 24-7 all-time vs. Bees
- Vermont (16-14) return home for a 6-day, 7-game homestand and play 10 of next 11, 16 of next 19 at Centennial Field thru July 26th.
Next Game: Thursday July 4rd, 1:05pm vs. New Britain (1,000 CHAMP Minuteman Bobblehead Giveaway)
Broadcast Info: Streaming on FCBLnetwork.com and live on WYCI-TV