PITTSFIELD, MA — The Lake Monsters rallied from a 6-1 deficit with 6 runs in the top of the seventh inning, but the Pittsfield Suns tied game bottom of seventh on four straight walks and then won in the ninth on a hit batter, sacrifice bunt and walkoff RBI single for an 8-7 Futures League victory over Vermont Monday night at Wachonah Park.
The Suns hit two home runs, a solo and two-run shot, in the bottom of the sixth inning for the five-run advantage, but the Lake Monsters sent 12 batters to the plate in the seventh to take a 7-6 lead on RBI singles from Andrew Kanellis (Vassar), Cooper Kelly (Kansas), Tyler Favretto (Crowder), a bases loaded hit batter and a Gio Cueto (Wake Forest) two-run infield single.
Reliever Tanner Wolpert (Rice HS) struckout the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh, but then walked the next three Suns before Zach Lewis (Vanderbilt) came on to force home the tying run with a bases loaded walk. George Goldstein (Middlebury) hit the first batter in the bottom of the ninth, then after a sac bunt and intentional walk, gave up the walkoff single to Robbie Burnett.
Monster Performances
Andrew Kanellis 2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI
Brian Schuab 1-for-4, HBP, 2 RBI
* Brian Schuab (Trinity) had 1st-inning RBI single in 1st AB for the Lake Monsters this season, while Kanellis had 2-out double in 2nd inning for Vermont’s 3rd hit (Lake Monsters hitless 3rd thru 6th innings)
* Pittsfield starter Izaiya Mestre had 11 strikeouts thru 6 innings and Vermont batters struckout 15 times overallBeyond The Boxscore
* Vermont is 3-4 in last 7 games after winning 7 straight and 23 of previous 25 games
* Lake Monsters are franchise-best 26-9 after 35 games (previous best was 23-12 in 2010)
* Since July 1, 2021 the Lake Monsters are 56-15 in the regular-season
* Vermont has now scored 5 or more runs in 14 of last 17 games, 19 of 23 and 26 of 35 overall
Next Game: Wednesday vs. Nashua, 6:35pm
Burlington Electric Department & Vermont Gas Systems Night!
Kids Eat Free and Kids Run the Bases post-game