BURLINGTON, VT — The Westfield Starfires scored six times in the top of the fifth inning and went on to beat the Vermont Lake Monsters 10-3 in Futures League action Saturday night in front of 2,821 at historic Centennial Field.
Vermont had just tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of fourth on Chone James (VIrginia) leadoff double and Joey Marini (Catholic) sacrifice fly when the Starfires sent 10 batters to the plate in top of fifth to score the six runs on four hits and three Lake Monster errors for a 7-1 lead.
Westfield added two runs in the sixth on a wild pitch and throwing error before making it 10-1 on a Jayden Novak solo homer in top of seventh. Lake Monsters scored twice in the bottom of the inning on a Tyler Favretto (Kansas Wesleyan) RBI single and Joey Gale (Saint Joseph’s) sacrifice fly.
Vermont (24-19) will host the Future League Road Warriors for a pair of games on Sunday starting at 1:05pm. The opener will be the completion of a suspended game between the two teams back on June 20th with the Lake Monsters leading 3-1 after two innings. After they complete that nine-inning contest, Vermont and the Road Warriors will play a seven-inning game.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Favretto 2-for-4, BB, RBI
- James 1-for-3, R, 2 B
- Matt Hirsch (Tufts) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- James has now hit safely in 10 straight games (16-for-39, .410), longest hitting streak for a Lake Monsters player since Tommy Martin hit in 10 straight July 17-August 3, 2022
- With 2 hits and 1 walk, Favretto now has 98 career hits and 99 career walks at Vermont
- Starter Christian De Risi (New Haven) retired 10 of first 12 batters before allowing 1 run in 4th and left game in 5th after error, walk and 2 singles (charged with 4 runs in inning)
BEYOND BOXSCORE
- Vermont loses its 2nd straight game after a 7-game inning streak
- Lake Monsters are 2-5 this season vs. Westfield with 1 game remaining August 1st
- With attendance of 2,821, Vermont has now drawn 66,297 (2,455 per game)
Next Game: Sunday, 1:05pm vs. FCBL Road Warriors (Doubleheader)
Broadcast Info: Streaming on FCBLnetwork.com