BURLINGTON, VT — Trailing 9-0 after five and a half innings on Star Wars Firework Night, the Vermont Lake Monsters pulled off some Jedi magic and exploded for 13 runs over their final three times at bat to rally for a 13-10 victory over the Worcester Bravehearts in Futures League action Saturday night in front of 3,264 fans at historic Centennial Field.
The rally started in the bottom of the sixth as Vermont scored four runs, capped by a Jordan Kelly (Princeton) two-run single to cut the deficit to 9-4. Then in the seventh, Jimmy Evans (Tufts) crushed a pinch-hit three-run homer to right field for his third home run of the season and getting the Lake Monsters within two runs at 9-7.
After Worcester plated a run in the top of the eighth for a three-run lead, Vermont scored six times on just two hits in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Favretto (Crowder) led off with a single and scored when Braveheart pitchers walked three of the next four batters.
Colby Brouillette (BFA/Clarkson) bounced into a RBI forceout to cut the Worcester lead to 10-9. After Brouillette stole second and Evans was intentionally walked, Tommy Hawke (Wake Forest) hit a potential inning-ending groundball that went through the legs of the Worcester shortstop for a two-run error and 11-10 Vermont lead.
Cooper Kelly (Kansas) followed with a two-run single to center for the Lake Monsters second hit of the inning and a 13-10 advantage. Wyatt Cameron (NE College), who had come in to pitch in the eighth, struckout the final two batters of the game to earn his fifth win of the season.
Monster Performances
Jimmy Evans 1-for-1, BB, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI
Ian Parent 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Monster Highlights
* Worcester had built 9-0 lead with 3 runs in 3rd and 4th innings, along with single runs in 2nd, 5th and 6th
* Vermont was outhit 17-9 by the Bravehearts (Worcester out hit Vermont 14-3 over first 5 1/2 innings)
* Brouillette went 1-for-4 with BB, RBI and 3 runs scored, while Evans 2 runs scored after entering in 7th inning
* Evans has 11 RBI in his last 4 games played and moves into 2nd-place in FCBL with 35 for the season
* 6 of Vermont’s 13 runs were unearned due to 5 Worcester errors, while Bravehearts scored 4 unearned runs on 3 Lake Monster errors
Beyond The Boxscore
* Vermont (37-14) has won 11 of their last 14 games and are 23 games over .500 for 2nd-time in franchise’s 28 seasons (48-25 at end of 1996 NYPL Championship season)
* The Lake Monsters improved to 23-6 at Centennial Field this season and 48-17 at home the past 2 seasons
* The 9-run deficit is the largest come-from-behind win for the Lake Monsters since July 30, 2007 when Vermont rallied from 10-1 deficit to beat Hudson Valley 12-10.
* Vermont’s magic # to clinch FCBL regular-season title is 6 (any combination of Vermont wins and/or Nashua losses adding up to 6 clinces first)
Next Game: Sunday vs. Worcester, 5:05pm
CHAMP’s Birthday (lots of area mascots, including Montreal’s Youppi)