Vermont Lake Monsters

5-3 Monsters Win In 6 Innings On Friday

boxscore

BURLINGTON, VT — BURLINGTON, VT — For the second straight night the Lake Monsters scored twice in the second and third innings, then after the Bravehearts cut the deficit to two runs, the Futures League game was shortened to six innings by rain for a Vermont 5-3 victory Friday night over Worcester on Delta Dental Diamond at Centennial Field. 

The Lake Monsters took a 2-0 lead in the second on a Tommy Popoff (Binghamton) bases loaded sacrifice fly and an unearned run on a throwing error. Travis Stroh (CVU/Dayton) gave Vermont a 4-0 lead in the third with a 378-foot two-run homer to left, his third home run of the season. 

After being held hitless over the first four innings, Worcester got two runs back in the fifth on an RBI infield single and sacrifice fly. Brenden Walsh (Endicott) walked with one-out in the bottom of the fifth and came around to score on three wild pitches. The Bravehearts got an unearned run in the sixth and had the tying run on first base when the inning ended on a caught stealing at third base. 

The game was stopped by rain before the start of the bottom of the sixth inning and called after a delay of 

On Thursday, Vermont also scored twice in second and third innings before winning 4-2 in game stopped with one out in bottom of sixth. 

The Worcester loss combined with a Norwich win means that the Bravehearts are locked into the fourth-seed for the Future League playoffs and will return to Centennial Field on Monday for game one of FCBL best-of-three semifinal.  

MONSTER STARS
* Stroh 2-for-2, BB, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI
* Jake Lopez (Indianapolis) 1-for-3, BB, R
* Danny O’Brien (Montclair State) 1-for-3, BB, R

MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
* Vermont’s 41 wins are the 3rd-most for Lake Monsters in FCBL-era (42 in 2021, 44 in 2022)
* Lake Monsters used 5 pitchers over 6 innings, including Brady Lane (Brandeis) with 2 scoreless IP
* Starter Ethan Freed (Quinnipiac) worked 1-2-3 top of 1st with 2 strikeouts (team-best 40 for season)
* Lake Monsters are 25-5-1 at Centennial Field with the regular-season finale scheduled for Saturday

UPCOMING 
Next Game: Saturday vs. Nashua, 6:05pm
Promotion: Fan Appreciation Night (Team Photo Giveaway)
Next Home Game: WYCI (TV),  FCBLnetwork.com (streaming), WJOY 1230am (radio)