BURLINGTON, VT — Antonio Gianni hit a two-run homer as the Lake Monsters built a 5-1 lead through three innings and then held on for their fourth straight win with a 5-4 Futures League victory over the New Britain Bees Thursday night at historic Centennial Field.
After New Britain scored the game’s first run in the top of the first, the Lake Monsters answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a wild pitch and groundout after a pair of singles and two walks.
Gianni (Central Arizona) made it 4-1 in the second with a line drive, two-run homer to left for his first home run of the season. The Lake Monsters added a fifth run in the third when Devan Kodali (Vanderbilt) was hit by a pitch after Vermont loaded the bases on singles from Tyler Favretto (Crowder), Gianni and Tommy Martin (Yale).
The Bees cut into the deficit with single runs in the sixth and seventh inning before a two-out RBI double in the ninth trimmed the Vermont lead to 5-4. Oliver Pudvar (CVU/Manhattan) came out of the bullpen to end the game with a strikeout and earn his second Lake Monster save
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Gianni 2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
- Martin 3-for-4, BB
- Callen Fang (Harvard) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Vermont has won 7 of last 8, 13 of last 16 and 18-5 in month of July
- Lake Monsters 6-1 vs. New Britain this season and 17-3 all-time
- Vermont had 7 hits over first 3 innings, but just 2 more final 5 innings at bat
- Starter Silas Reed (Tufts) 1 run, 4 hits, 4 walks and 2 strikeouts over 4 innings
- Geordan Jackson Murphy (UMass-Dartmouth) 1 run, 3 hits in 2 innings for win
- With 1 walk & 3 strikeouts, Fang now has 2 BB, 29 SO in 15 scoreless innings
- Vermont now 20-1 when scoring 5+ runs and 7-0 on Thursdays
Next Game: Friday vs. New Britain, 6:35pm (Vermont Maple Kings Night)