Lake Monsters Blow-Out 'Cats

BURLINGTON, VT --- After scoring just five runs on 16 hits in three games over the weekend at Lowell, the Vermont Lake Monsters offense woke up on Monday night to score 13 runs on 15 hits in a 13-3 victory over the Tri-City ValleyCats in New York-Penn League action at historic Centennial Field.

The Lake Monsters got the offense rolling in the bottom of the first when they scored three runs to erase a 2-0 deficit. Vermont would end up scoring at least one run in each of the eight innings that they batted except for the second inning.

Vermont scored a single runs in the third and fourth innings, then added two more uneared runs in the fifth for a 7-2 lead. The unearned runs in the fifth were due to a throwing error by ValleyCat shortstop Jeff Hulett, one of six errors in the game by the Tri-City defense.

After the ValleyCats got a run back in the sixth on a Daniel Meier RBI single, the Lake Monsters got the run right back in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring wild pitch for an 8-3 lead. It was one of three runs that Vermont would score on a wild pitch in the game.

The Lake Monsters put the game away for good in the seventh with four runs, all coming after the first two batters in the inning struckout. Robby Jacobsen got the rally started with a single and Steve Souza followed with his first home run of the season for Vermont. After two singles and a walk, Stephen Englund lined a two-run single off the leg of ValleyCat reliever Kyle Godfrey.

Things got off to a rocky beginning for Vermont starter Randy Matias, who allowed a leadoff walk and, one-out later, a two-run homer from Philip Disher to give Tri-City a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. But Matias (1-1) would settle down to retire the next 12 batters and ended the night with three runs allowed on four hits in six innings for his first win of the season.

Derek Norris was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a double for the Lake Monsters, while Jesus Valdez was 3-for-5 with an RBI. Souza was 2-for-4 with two runs and the two-run homer, while Michael Guerrero was 2-for-5 with three runs, a double and an RBI.

Disher was 2-for-3 with two runs, a double and the two-run homer, his third home run of the season for Tri-City (2-5). Starter David Duncan (0-1) allowed three runs on four hits in two innings for the loss.

The 13 runs scored were the most at Centennial Field for the Lake Monsters since July 20, 2005 when Vermont scored 14 runs in a 14-10 victory over the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

Vermont (3-4) will host Tri-City in the second of the three-game series on Tuesday night at Centennial with Will Atwood making his professional debut with the Lake Monsters in the 7:05 pm game.