BURLINGTON, VT — Stan Zagrodnik hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and reliever E.J. Nevills tossed seven scoreless innings as the Worcester Bravehearts took the opener of a four-game Futures League series against the Vermont Lake Monsters with a 4-0 victory Thursday night at historic Centennial Field.
Worcester took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Mike Maher two-out RBI double off Vermont starter Ben Alekson (Stowe/Fairfield). Then in the fourth after a one-out infield single and hit batter, Zagrodnik drilled a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left for his first home run of the season and a Bravehearts 4-0 lead.
Nevills came in out of the Worcester bullpen to start the third and limited the Lake Monsters to three hits and one walk over the seven scoreless frames, while striking out seven and inducing Vermont to hit into double plays in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Vermont’s best chances to score were in the first and second innings when they got runners to second-and-third with one out, but a pair of strikeouts ended the first and a pair of groundouts ended the second with no runs. After a Tommy Martin (Yale) bunt single in fifth, Nevills held the Lake Monsters hitless over the final 4 ⅔ innnings.
The Bravehearts win, coupled with a 9-1 Norwich victory, leaves the Lake Monsters (35-22) one game behind both Worcester (37-22) and the Sea Unicorns (36-21) for first-place in the FCBL standings.
Vermont will host the Bravehearts again Friday in the regular-season home finale before the teams play two games at Worcester Saturday (completion of July 21st suspended game and regular seven-inning game).
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Alekson 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
- Dylan Knightley (Middlebury) 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Jack Winnay (Wake Forest) 2-for-4, 2B
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- 3rd shutout loss of the season for Vermont, all coming at Centennial Field vs. Worcester (1-0 June 25th, 3-0 July 5th and 4-0 August 3rd)
- Knightley, making his 1st appearance since July 6th, tossed 1-2-3 8th and had 2 strikeouts in scoreless 9th after leadoff single
- Carson Walsh (Northeastern) also tossed 2 shutout relief innings
- Vermont now 6-17 when scoring 4 runs or fewer in a game (28-9 when opponent less than 5 runs)
Next Game: Friday, 6:35pm vs. Worcester (home regular-season finale)