Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters
BURLINGTON — Vermont scored six runs in both the second and third innings to help the Lake Monsters score the most runs at historic Centennial Field over the last 17 years in a 14-7 New York-Penn League victory over the Brooklyn Cyclones Thursday night.
The Lake Monsters trailed 3-2 in the second when they tied the game on a Lana Akau RBI single and took the lead on a Payton Squier sacrifice fly. Later in the inning with two outs, Alfonso Rivas capped off the six-run frame with a three-run double to leftcenter for a 7-3 Vermont advantage.
Vermont sent another 10 batters to the plate for the second straight inning in the third with the first three runs coming on bases loaded walks to Jameson Hannah and Rivas around an Aaron Arruda RBI infield single. The scoring continued with another two-out, three-run double to leftcenter, this one from Anthony Churlin to give the Lake Monsters a 13-3 lead.
The Lake Monsters added a 14th run in the fourth on a Macros Brito double and an RBI single from Squier, extending his current hitting streak to nine games. After 14 runs on 13 hits over the first four innings, Vermont had just two hits over its last four innings at bat.
The 13 runs over the first three innings set a new Vermont all-time high for runs in a game against Brooklyn (had scored 12 previously vs. Cyclones on July 30, 2011), while the 14 runs were the most by the Lake Monsters in a game at Centennial Field since scoring 17 vs. Pittsfield July 21, 2001.
Vermont starter Abdiel Mendoza (1-1) was touched for three runs on six hits over the first two innings, but settled down to allow just four hits over the next three scoreless inning to earn his first win of the season. Reliever Oscar Tovar went the final 1 1/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts to close out the victory.
Every Lake Monsters starter had at least one hit and scored at least one run, led by Brito with three hits and three runs scored. Max Scheumann and Akau both had two hits and two runs, while Rivas finished with four RB I on the night. The Lake Monsters had struggled over the first 12 games of the season in two-out, runners in scoring position (hitting just .170, 8-for-47) but collected 10 two-out RBI on Thursday night.
2014 Lake Monster Jose Brizuela went 2-for-3 with two walks, three runs, a double and an RBI for Brooklyn, while Jose Miguel Media and Chase Chambers both had three hits. Cyclones starter Briam Capusano (2-1) allowed seven runs (three earned) on six hits in just 1 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Vermont (7-6) and Brooklyn (9-4) will square off in the second of the three-game series at Centennial on Friday night at 7:05 pm with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free Lake Monsters pool towel.