BURLINGTON, VT — A Tommy Popoff RBI triple in the first inning was the only Vermont run that scored on a base hit, but the Lake Monsters were able to score seven times on a wild pitch, two balks, a bases loaded walk, two RBI fielder choices and a safety squeeze bunt double play for an 8-6 victory over the New Britain Bees on Sunday evening at historic Centennial Field.
Vermont took a 4-1 lead early as the Lake Monsters scored three times in the first inning when Sam Cavossa (Saint Michaels) scored on a wild pitch before Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) and Popoff (Binghamton) triples. Popoff then scored on a balk and Masai Marshall (Northeastern) also scored on a balk in the fourth.
New Britain sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth and scored four times on just one hit with one error, three walks and two hit batters to take a 6-4 lead. But Vermont came right back in the bottom of the sixth with three runs on a bases loaded walk followed by back-to-back run-scoring fielder choices from Cavossa (4-6) and Bryan Richman (6-4). Lake Monsters added an insurance run in the eighth on a Richman (Cal Poly Pomona) safety squeeze bunt that plated Tyler Harmony (Northeastern).
Starter Casey Gouge (Catawba) allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with no walks and eighth strikeouts over the first five innings, while Jack McLaughlin (Tufts) record final two outs of the top of the sixth to earn his fifth win. Will Polishuk (Pomona Pitzer), Zander Teator (Babson) and Sean Gamble (Bethany Lutheran) each tossed a scoreless frame over the final three innings.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
* Gouge 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO (66 pitches, 45 strikes)
* Popoff 2-for-4, R, 3B, RBI
* Harmony/Marshall both 0-for-2, 2 HBP, 2 R
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
* Lake Monsters (38-19) have won 5 of its last 6 games overall and 14 of its last 17 to move 19 games over .500 for 1st time this season
* Popoff has hit safely in 4 straight, all multi-hit games, going 9-for-17 (.529)
* McLaughlin (5-0) joins 4 other pitchers, including Vermont’s Jack Kelliher (Northern Essex CC), for league-lead in victories
* Mario Cubello (St. John Fisher) made his Vermont debut, drawing a walk in each of his 3 plate appearances (bases loaded walk in 6th)
* With a hit, run and RBI Sunday, Cavossa now leads FCBL with 67 hits, 41 runs and 3rd with 34 RBI
* Shaun McMillan (St. Johns) had a single in his final at bat, giving him 60 base hits for the season
* Cavossa 2nd in the league with .345 average, while Richman 3rd (.323) and McMillan 5th (.313)
* Each of Lake Monsters last 3 runs scored by player who reached by HBP (Marshall once, Harmony twice)
* Attendance of 3,208 marked 10th crowd of 3,000+ at Centennial this season with 86,515 total for average of 2,704
Next Game: Tuesday at Norwich, 6:30pm (fcblnetwork.com)
Next Home Game: Thursday vs. Worcester, 6:35 pm