Burlington, VT — Masai Marshall one-out two-run single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Vermont Lake Monsters a 2-1 Futures League victory over the Worcester Bravehearts in front of 3,036 Thursday night on the Delta Dental Diamond at historic Centennial.
Shutout on just three hits over the first eight innings, the Lake Monsters took advantage of a Worcester error and a hit batter to leadoff the ninth. A Bryan Richman (Cal Poly Pomona) sacrifice bunt followed by an intentional walk loaded the bases for Vermont.
Marshall (Northwestern) fell quickly behind 0-2, but with the help of a couple of foul balls worked the count to 3-2 before lining a single past the drawn in short stop into left scoring Aidan Botti (Rhode Island) and Nolan Colby (Fairfield) with the tying and winning runs.
Five Vermont pitchers combined to allow just five hits, including back-to-back singles after a one-out walk in the sixth inning for Worcester’s only run of the game. Starter Jack McLaughlin (Tufts) gave up two hits with a walk and four strikeouts over the first three innings, while Brady Lane (Brandeis) 1 hit, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts in two scoreless innings. Zander Teator (Babson) 2 strikeouts in 1-2-3 ninth to earn the win.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
* Marshall 1-for-1, 3 BB, 2 RBI
* McLaughlin 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO
* Langdon Hazen (Quinnipiac/Mt. Mansfield) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
* Vermont (40-20) picks up its 40th win of the season, 3rd time in 5 FCBL seasons with 40+ wins
* Lake Monsters have won 7 of their last 9, 16 last 20 and are 20 over .500 for 2nd time (other 39-19)
* Vermont bullpen combined for 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO
* Lake Monsters have just 22 total hits over the last 4 games, but are 3-1 in those 4 contests
* 2nd win of season when trailing after 8 innings and the 1st at Centennial (other 7/16 at Nashua)
* Vermont now 3-8 this season vs. Worcester (43-16),, while 37-12 vs. rest of the league
* Crowd of 3,036 increased 2025 attendance to 89,551 (an average of 2,714 per game)
* All-time attendance in franchise’s 31-year history now 6,653 short of 3 million (2,993,247)
ALL-TIME (1121): 2,993,247 2,670
Futures League (181) 408,733 2,258
2025 Season (33) 89,551 2,714
Next Game: Friday vs. Worcester, 6:35 pm (Regular-Season Home Finale)
Broadcast: WYCI (TV), fcblnetwork.com (stream)