BURLINGTON, VT — Cooper Kelly was 2-for-5 with five RBI, including a bases clearing three-run triple as part of a five-run bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Vermont Lake Monsters to an 8-4 Futures League victory over the Westfield Starfires Sunday afternoon at historic Centennial Field.

Kelly (Kansas), who had given the Lake Monsters a 2-1 lead with a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning, came to the plate in the eighth inning after a Harrison Didawick (Virginia) bases loaded walk had given Vermont a 4-3 advantage. Kelly lined the first pitch he saw past first base and down into the righ-tfield corner to pad the lead to 7-3 and then scored on a Tyler Favretto (Crowder) sacrifice fly.

The Starfires got a run in the ninth on a triple and RBI single, but Wyatt Cameron (Middlebury/NE College) finished off the victory to earn his third win of the season.

Monster Performances
* Connor Bowman 2-for-4, R, 3B, 5 RBI
* M.J. Metz 2-for-4, 2 R

Monster Highlights
* Starter Nick Berger (Rollins) allowed 3 runs on 8 hits over 5 2/3 innings, including 2 runs on 3 hits that tied the game 3-3 in top 5th before getting out of jam with a flyball double play to right (runner at first doubled off)
* All 8 Vermont RBI came from the 7-8-9 batters in the order, including a George Cooper (Harvard) RBI single in 4th
* M.J. Metz (Trinity/Duke) 2-for-4 in his final game for Vermont (other summer commitments) and is being replaced on roster by Trinity (TX) University teammate Brian Schuab, who was also a member of the 2021 Lake Monsters

Beyond The Boxscore
* Vermont has won 10 of its last 13 and 26 of last 29, while improving to franchise-best 26-8 after 34 games
* Since July 1, 2021 the Lake Monsters are 56-14 in the regular-season and are 43-15 overall in FCBL games at Centennial since start of last season
* Vermont has now scored 5 or more runs in 13 of last 15 games, 18 of 21 and 25 of 32 overall

Next Game: Monday at Pittsfield, 6:35pm
Next Home Game: Wednesday vs. Nashua, 6:35pm