BURLINGTON, VT — Sean Matson struckout nine batters while allowing just one baserunner over five innings as the Vermont Lake Monsters built a 6-1 lead before holding on for a 7-5 Futures League victory over the Pittsfield Suns Tuesday night at historic Centennial Field.

Matson retired the first 12 batters that he faced and 15 of 16 overall. Only baserunner against the Harvard right-hander was a leadoff homer from Drew Metdzorf in the top of the fifth. Matson finished with nine strikeouts, two in each of the first three innings and then again in fifth, to increase his FCBL-leading strikeout total to 40 (against just one walk) in 22 innings pitched

Lake Monster scored four runs in the bottom of the second with on a Tyler Favretto (Crowder) RBI single and a George Cooper (Harvard) two-out bases loaded long flyball off the centerfielder’s glove that cleared the bases. Vemont added two more run in the fifth on a two-out Pittsfield fielding error and Favretto’s second RBI single of the game for 6-1 advantage.

Pittsfield scored twice in both 7th and 8th innings to cut deficit to 6-5, but a couple of Suns errors in the eighth plated an insurance run for Vermont and George Goldstein (Middlebury) worked a scoreless 1 2/3 with three strikeouts to earn his league-leading seventh save.

Monster Performances
* Sean Matson 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
* Tyler Favretto 2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI

Monster Highlights
* Jackson Kline (Kansas) and Colby Brouillette (Clarkson) both had 2 hits for Vermont
* Both teams finished with 13 strikeouts

Beyond The Boxscore
* Vermont (18-5) has won 18 of its last 20 games and set new franchise mark for best record after 23 games (17-6 in 2010)
* Lake Monsters have also won 12 straight games at home (longest Centennial win streak is 15 consecutive August 2000- June 2001, while 2021 Monsters won 13 straight July 1-20).
13 set in 2021)
* Since July 1st of 2021, the Lake Monsters have a 48-11 regular-season record (30-6 to end 2021, 18-5 in 2022)

Next Home Game: Wednesday vs. Pittsfield, 6:35pm
Kids Eat Free and Run Bases Post-Game