Vermont Drops Game One 11-6 Tuesday

August 11, 2026

BURLINGTON, VT — In the completion of Monday night’s suspended game with Worcester leading 8-6 in the bottom of the fifth, Bravehearts reliever Aiden Cardoza tossed 4 ⅔ scoreless innings as Worcester took game one of the best-of-three Futures League semifinal series 11-6 Tuesday night on Delta Dental Diamond at Centennial Field.

The Lake Monsters, the FCBL regular-season champion after a 42-15-1 regular-season, will need a victory on Wednesday night at Worcester to force a third-and-deciding third game of the series at Centennial on Thursday night.

Cardoza retired 13 of the 15 Vermont batters he faced, allowing just a two-out infield single in the fifth and a one-out single in the eighth that was erased by an inning-ending double play. Worcester added three insurance runs, two of them unearned, in the eighth including a two-run single.

On Monday, Worcester jumped out with 4 runs in the 1st, a run in second and a three-run homer in the fourth for an 8-0 lead. Vermont got within 8-6 by scoring six runs with two outs in the sixth. Thomas Moss (Trinity TX) and Brad Johnston (Swartamore) RBI singles before a Patrick Shrake (Colby) three-run triple..

MONSTER STARS
* Shrake 2-for-3, R, 3B, 3 RBI
* Danny O’Brien (Montclair State) 2-for-4
* Brady Lane (Brandeis) 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
* Just the 6th Vermont loss in 33 games at Centennial this season (23-3-1 since June 6th)
* Vermont, which had made fewest errors in league during regular season (64) compared to Worcester’s league-worst (102), were charged with 5 errors in leading to 5 unearned runs
* It was only the 3rd time all season Lake Monsters more than 3 errors in a game (5 at Lowell June 27th)
* Including regular season, O’Brien has now hit in 7 straight games (11×24) and Moss 9 straight (12×34)
* Vermont is now 33-8-1 when scoring 5+ runs, while 15-15-1 when opponent scores 5 or more
* Monday/Tuesday attendance of 2,772 is the 3rd largest in 12 FCBL Centennial Field playoff games
* Vermont’s Chase Burrows (Babson) and Worcester’s Jake Shaughnessy scheduled starters for game 2

UPCOMING
Game 2: Wednesday at Worcester, 6:05pm on WYCI-TV, FCBLnetwork.com , WJOY 1230am (radio)
Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday vs. Worcester, 6:35pm

Vermont Lake Monsters