BURLINGTON, VT — Trey Cruz went 4-for-6 with three RBI and Jackson Hacker had five RBI including a grand slam homer to lead the Westfield Starfires to a 12-2 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters in Futures League action Thursday night at historic Centennial Field.
Westfield (32-19-1), which clinched a top-two seed for the upcoming FCBL playoffs with the victory, jumped out on top with two runs in the third inning off Vermont starter Wyatt Cameron (Central Connecticut) and added another run in the fourth for a 3-0 lead.
Lake Monsters got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on three straight singles to open the inning and a one-out Owen McKiernan (Tufts) RBI single. The Starfires got that run right back in the fifth for a 4-1 lead before adding two runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and five in the ninth including Hacker’s grand slam for a 12-1 advantage.
Vermont closed out the scoring in the bottom of the ninth on a Tommy Googins (Princeton) RBI infield single for his third hit of the game. Despite the loss, the Lake Monsters (28-24) remaining percentage points ahead of New Britain (27-24) for third-place in the standings and still need either one win or one Worcester loss to clinch a playoff spot
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Googins 3-for-4, RBI
- McKiernan 2-for-4, RBI
- Joey Gale (Saint Joseph’s) 2-for-4, 2B
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Cameron allowed 2 runs on 3 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts over 3 innings in his final regular-season appearance for the Lake Monsters
- Gale has hit in 14 of last 17 games, going 20-for-64 (.313) with 14 RBI
- Mark Quatrani (Cornell) 1-for-4 with 1 run (12-for-30, .400 last 9 games)
- Vermont outhit Westfield 11-10, but Lake Monster pitchers issued season-high 11 walks, tying team FCBL-era record for walks in a game (July 18, 2023 vs. New Britain)
BEYOND BOXSCORE
- The 10-run loss was the largest of the season for Vermont and only the Lake Monsters 2nd double-digit loss since joining the FCBL in 2021 (lost 12-2 at Brockton 7/26/21
- Vermont has now gone 17 straight games without a home run (last homer was July 12th)
- With 3 days left in season, Vermont .547 win%, New Britain .538 and Worcester .490
Next Game: Friday, 6:30pm at Norwich (streaming on FCBLnetwork.com)
Next Home Game: Saturday, 6:05pm vs. Nashua (30th Anniversary celebration/fireworks)