NASHUA, NH — Cooper Berry and Zander Teator both hit three-run homers to break open a three-run Vermont lead as the Lake Monsters won their fifth straight with a 9-1 Futures League victory over the Nashua Silver Knights Saturday night at Holman Stadium.
Vermont led 3-0 in the top of the seventh when Berry (Pomona Pitzer) connected for his third home run of the season to double the Lake Monsters lead and Teator (Babson) followed an inning later with his three-run homer, his first of the season.
The Lake Monsters scored in the top of the first as Aidan Botti (Cuesta) led off with a single and scored on a Berry two-out RBI single, then leading 2-0 Vermont added a run in the seventh as Botti singled with two outs and scored on a Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) RBI single before the Berry three-run shot.
Starter Matt Higgins (Colby) tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering four hits and four walks with four strikeouts. Landon Miller (San Jacinto) recorded the final out of the 5th inning with the bases loaded to earn his 3rd win, while Shamus Kelly (Wesleyan) stranded 2 inherited runners by retiring all three batters he faced.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
* Berry 2-for-5, R, HR, 4 RBI
* Botti 2-for-5, 2 R
* Zach Davis (Bryant/Colchester) 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO for save
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
* Vermont (29-16) has won 5 straight to move 13 games over .500 for the 1st time this season
* Lake Monsters are 6-4 this season vs. Silver Knights, including 4-1 at Nashua (4 straight wins)
* The FCBL hit leader Sam Cavossa (Saint Michael’s) and HR/RBI leader Shaun McMillan (St. Johns) both did not play for the Lake Monsters
* Bryan Richman (Cal Poly Pomona) went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 13 straight games (18-for-53, .340)
* Botti, who had not played since June 17-July 17, is 4-for-8 over last 2 days (1-for-3 on Friday)
* Berry is the 2nd Lake Monster to reach 3 homers (McMillan league-leading 10)
* After hitting just 8 homers in 29 May/June games, Vermont has hit 15 homers in 17 July games
* 1st time since June 26, 2022 Vermont had 2 homers of 3-run or better in game (hit 3-run and grand slam in 6th inning of 16-0 win over New Britain)
* Davis earned his 2nd save of the season and now has a 0.96 ERA (1 ER-9.1 IP) on the road
Next Game: Sunday vs. Nashua, 6:35pm
Promotions: Christmas In July (Snowglobe Bobbehead for first 1,000 fans)
Have A Catch and Kids Run The Bases post-game
Broadcast: FCBLnetwork.com (stream)