NEW BRITAIN, CT — The Lake Monsters rallied from a 6-1 deficit with three unearned runs in the seventh before sending 14 batters to the plate to score nine runs on eight hits in the top of the eighth inning as Vermont defeated the New Britain Bees 15-7 in Futures League action Saturday night at New Britain Stadium.
Vermont trailed 6-4 when the eighth inning started with Eric Becker (Virginia) reaching on a fielding error, advancing to second on a wild pitch and scoring on a Teddy Schoenfeld (MIT) RBI double. Schoenfield advanced to third on a wild pitch and had to hold at third on a Tyler Favretto (Kansas Wesleyan) groundout for the first out.
But the next five Lake Monsters all produced a base hit, including a Khal Coney (Trinity) RBI single to tie game and Jack Winnay (Wake Forest) two-run go ahead double. Colby Brouillette (BFA/Central Connecticut) added an RBI single for 9-6 advantage before Schoenfeld and Coney both had two-run singles for the seventh and eighth base hits of the inning.
Lake Monsters scored two more unearned runs in the top of the ninth for 13th and 14th unanswered runs before the Bees got a run in the bottom of the ninth. The 15 runs were the second-most scored by Vermont this season (17 vs Worcester June 23rd in just five innings) and 18 hits were the second-most (19 hits in win at New Britain on May 31st).
Vermont (31-17) will play again at New Britain Sunday starting at 1:35pm before the Lake Monsters host the Futures League Home Run Derby Monday and All-Star Game Tuesday.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Winnay 3-for-5, HBP, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI
- Coney 3-for-6, 2 R, 3 RBI
- Becker 3-for-6, 1 R, 1 RB
- Schoenfeld 2-for-6, 2 R, 3 RBI
- Carson Walsh (Northeastern) 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO for win
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Vermont win coupled with Worcester doubleheader split moves Lake Monsters into virtual tie with Bravehearts for first-place (VT 31-17, WOR 32-18) and Norwich (31-18) one-half game behind.
- 7 Vermont batters had multi-hit games including 2 hits for Perrotta, Trevor Cohen (Rutgers) and Devan Kodali (Vanderbilt) with Favretto (3 walks) only starter without hit
- The 9-run 8th inning was 2nd-most runs in an inning this year for Vermont (10-run inning June 25th vs. Worcester)
- Ethan Bowen (Rutgers) had allowed 1 run on 3 hits over 4 ⅔ innings before giving up 2-out single, single, walk in 6th inning (left game with bases loaded, all runners scored)
- New Britain finished with 7 errors leading to 10 Vermont unearned runs
Next Game: Sunday at New Britain,1:35pm
Next Centennial Game: FCBL Home Run Derby Monday & All-Star Game Tuesday
Next VT Home Game: July 29th vs. Nashua