BURLINGTON, VT — The Nashua Silver Knights scored seven runs the the top of the seventh inning to turn a 3-2 deficit into an 11-3 Futures League victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters in front of 3,892 Saturday night at historic Centennial Field.
Despite suffering their third straight loss, the Lake Monsters clinched a spot in the FCBL playoffs for the fourth straight year when Worcester lost 5-4 at home Saturday to the New Britain Bees. Vermont (29-26) currently holds the #4 seed and can pass New Britain (29-25) for #3 seed if the Bees lose to Westfield at 1:00pm and Lake Monsters beat Nashua at 5:05pm.
Vermont had turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead with a Jack Rickheim (Harvard) two-run homer in the third inning and a Jackson Sirois (Virgina) RBI infield single in the fourth, but the first Nashua batters reached base safely in the seventh as the Silver Knights scored 7 times on three hits, three walks, a hit batter and four errors.
Nashua added two more runs in the ninth to reach double figures, the third straight game that the Lake Monsters have allowed 10 or more runs. Vermont starter Hayden Mutz (AIC) allowed the first four batters of the game to reach as the Silver Knights scored twice in first, but then retired 17 of next 19 batters through six innings of work
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Rickheim 2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
- Sirois 3-for-4, 2B, RBI
- Mutz 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Rickheim 2-run homer in 3rd was the 1st home run for a Lake Monster batter in the last 19 games (had not hit HR since July 12th)
- Chone James (Virginia) was 2-for-4 with a run and his 12th double of season, setting new Vermont FCBL-era record for doubles in a season
- #6-8 hitters Sirois, James and Rickheim were combined 7-for-12, while rest of Vermont lineup went 0-for-19
BEYOND BOXSCORE
- The Lake Monsters have allowed 10 or more runs in 3 straight games for the 1st time since July 22-24, 2005 when part of the New York-Penn League
- 5 of the 7 Nashua runs allowed in 7th were unearned due to the 3 errors in the inning
- Crowd of 3,892 was 2nd largest of season at Centennial and marked the 8th 3,000+ attendance of season
- Vermont has now drawn 87,573 in 35 dates (2,502 average) this season and passed the 2.9-million mark overall in team’s 30-year history (2,901,780)
Next Game: Sunday 5:05pm vs. Nashua (Fan Appreciation – regular season finale)
Broadcast Info: Streaming on FCBLnetwork.com and live on WYCI-TV