BURLINGTON, VT — Vermont made it two straight wins to open the 2023 season as the Lake Monsters took advantage of 10 walks by Norwich pitching for a 3-2 Futures League victory over the Sea Unicorns Thursday night at historic Centennial Field.
The Lake Monsters took a 2–0 on just one hit in the fourth with a leadoff walk, one-out Antonio Gianni (Central Arizona) single and another walk to load the bases before scoring the game’s first run when Omar Almodovar (Savannah State) was hit by a pitch.
Gianni scored the second run in the fourth on an RBI forceout by Tommy Martin (Yale), then after Norwich had tied the game with two runs in the top of the seventh, a bases loaded walk to Gianni forced home the eventual winning run,
While his Demon Deacon teammates compete in the ACC Tournament, Wake Forest redshirt freshman Evan Maloney tossed four scoreless innings in his first start for the Lake Monsters, while Callen Fang (Harvard) one hit and three strikeouts in a scoreless ninth for the save.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Maloney 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
- Ethan Siegel (MIT) 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO for win
- Gianni 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Vermont scored the winning run in the 8th on a 2-out walk, Ryan Grace (Colby) double and back-to-back walks to Colby Brouillette (BFA/Central Connecticut) and Gianni
- Norwich outhit Vermont 9-3, but Lake Monster pitchers issued just 2 walks and had 12 strikeouts (Sea Unicorn pitchers 10 walks, 9 strikeouts
- Dylan Knightley (Middlebury) tossed 2 scoreless innings of relief before being charged with the 2 Norwich runs in the 7th inning
- Vermont is 2-0 for the first time in 3 FCBL seasons and 2-0 for 1st time overall since 2019
Next Game: Thursday vs. Norwich, 6:30pm at Centennial Field