After setting a league record with 42 victories and winning the 2021 FCBL championship during their first season in the Futures League, the Vermont Lake Monsters followed up this summer by setting another new FCBL record with 44 victories and 2nd straight regular-season title before coming up a run short of back-to-back championships.

2022 began with 3 straight losses, but Vermont followed with a 13-game winning streak (May 30th-June 12th) and 23 victories in a 25-game stretch for a 23-5 record (and a 7 ½ game lead in the FCBL standings). 

The Lake Monsters then “struggled” thru a 3-6 slump before winning 16 of next 20 games for a season-best nine-game lead with a 39-15 record on July 28th. Vermont improved to a franchise-best 26 games over .500 (44-18) on the next to last day of the regular-season. 

Vermont swept its second straight semifinal series (6-2 and 10-2 wins over Westfield), then shutout Nashua 12-0 in first game of the best-of-three finals before back-to-back 6-5 losses to the Silver Knights.

For the second straight season the Lake Monsters had the FCBL Pitcher of the Year as Sean Matson (Harvard) took the honor in 2022 following Patrick Harrington in 2021. Matson made nine starts for Vermont, going 5-2 with a 1.61 ERA, just five walks and league-best 68 strikeouts in just 44 ⅔ innings. 

Matson, along with fellow starter Tim Noone (Babson), reliever Wyatt Cameron (NE College) and closer George Goldstein (Middlebury) were all named first-team All-FCBL. Noone was 5-0 with 2.87 ERA, nine walks and 61 strikeouts over 53.1 innings in 10 starts, while Cameron 5-2 with two saves, 2.95 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 36 ⅔ innings. 

Goldstein was named the league’s Reliever of the Year after going 4-1 with league-leading 11 saves, 2.76 ERA and 45 strikeouts over 32 ⅔ innings in league-high 27 appearances. Vermont’s other FCBL award winner was second straight Coach of the Year for Pete Wilk. 

Jimmy Evans (Tufts) was also a first-team All-FCBL selection along with being voted by Lake Monsters fans as the team’s Tom Racine MVP award winner after hitting .325 (50-for-154) with 31 runs, 11 doubles, three homers and a league-leading 49 RBI in 47 games. Georgia, Vermont’s Colby Brouillette (Clarkson) was the fan-voted George Commo Award winner for Top Vermonter with five homers and 24 RBI in 38 games. 

Vermont’s other two All-FCBL selections were first-team shortstop Cooper Kelly (Kansas) and second-team outfielder Jackson Kline (Kansas). For the season, the Lake Monsters roster consisted of 54 total players from 38 different college programs. 

While finishing with the best record in the Futures League, the Lake Monsters also finished atop the FCBL attendance standings with an average of 2,071 over 39 dates (80,771 total) including three crowds of over 4,000 at historic Centennial Field.