Baseball: Brooklyn Evens Series With Lake Monsters

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters

BURLINGTON — A night after the Lake Monsters scored 14 runs over the first four innings, the Brooklyn Cyclones scored 11 times over the first four frames Friday night and went on to defeat Vermont 13-7 in New York-Penn League action at historic Centennial Field.

The Cyclones scored three runs in the top of the first, including a Chase Chambers two-run double, off Vermont starter Gus Varland (0-1), making his Lake Monsters debut after being selected in the 14th-round by Oakland in 2018 draft. One of the runs was unearned and Varland had two strikeouts in his one inning of work.

Brooklyn added four more runs in both the third and fourth innings to open an 11-1 advantage. Manny Rodriguez had a two-run double in the third to give the Cyclones a 7-3 lead, while Wayne Lagrange an RB double and Chambers an RBI single in the fourth.

Lake Monsters got runs in the first on an Alfonso Rivas sacrifice fly and in the fifth when Payton Squier extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games with a double and later scored on a wild pitch making the score 11-2. The teams each scored two runs in the seventh inning, including an Oliver Pascual RBI single for Brooklyn and Devin Foyle RBI double for Vermont

Lake Monsters added three more runs in the ninth, including a bases loaded two-out, two-run single to center from Lana Akau cutting the deficit to 13-7. The two teams combined for 27 hits (Brooklyn 16, Vermont 11) a night after each team collected 15 hits in the 14-7 Lake Monsters win.

Chambers went 3-for-5 with two runs, a double and three RBI, while Lagrange was 3-for-5 with three runs and a double for Brooklyn (10-4). Cyclones starter Nicolas Debora (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits with five walks and three strikeouts over the first five innings for the victory.

Relievers Jeferson Mejia (two innings) and Clark Cota (one inning) combined for three scoreless innings with six strikeouts for Vermont (7-7). Jameson Hannah was 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Jonah Bride, Joseph Pena (double) and Austin Piscotty (RBI single in ninth) all had a base hit in their Vermont debuts.

After splitting the first two games, the Lake Monsters and Cyclones will wrap up the series on Saturday beginning at 6:05 pm. The first 500 fans into the park when gates open at 5:00 pm will receive a free Vermont Expos replica jersey.