NYPL Vermont Lake Monsters

Lake Monsters Rally Late Twice For Douleheader Sweep Monday

Published on September 1, 2008 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Vermont Lake Monsters News Release


ONEONTA, NY --- The Vermont Lake Monsters rallied late from 3-2 deficits in both games of a New York-Penn League doubleheader Monday night at Damaschke Field for a 5-3 and 7-3 sweep of the Oneonta Tigers.

Marcus Jones' two-run triple gave Vermont a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning of game one, while Jake Dugger and Jake Smolinski had back-to-back pinch hit RBI singles in the sixth inning to give the Lake Monsters a 4-3 lead in the nightcap.

Vermont trailed 3-2 heading into the seventh of the opener, but reliever Jared Gayhart walked James Keithley and Yhonson Lopez to open the inning. After a Dani Arias sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Jones lined a 1-1 pitch up the right centerfield gap to give Vermont the lead. Gayhart walked the next two batters before Derek Norris gave the Lake Monsters an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.

Brad Peacock, who had allowed a pair of RBI singles in the sixth inning to give Oneonta the 3-2 lead, retired the first two batters of the seventh before giving up a single and walk. Peacock, who had tossed a seven-inning complete-game 4-2 victory at Oneonta on July 21st, got out of the jam on a fly out to left for another seven-inning complete-game victory at Oneonta.

The win marked the first time this season that the Lake Monsters have won a game when they trailed heading into the final inning. Vermont is 0-29 when trailing after eight innings and was 0-1 when trailing after six innings of a doubleheader game before the game one victory on Monday.

The Lake Monsters had just three hits in the opener, but four Oneonta pitchers combined to walk eight Vermont batters. Peacock (4-6) allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits for his third win of the year against the Tigers. Oneonta starter Trevor Feeney gave up two unearned runs on two hits over five innings with five strikeouts.

Nick Arata had an RBI triple and scored on a Norris sacrifice fly to give the Lake Monsters a 2-0 lead in game two. Oneonta got a run in the third and two unearned runs in the fifth off Vermont starter Jorge Urena, who was making his first start for the Lake Monsters. Oneonta loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth off reliever David Slovak after Vermont had taken a 4-3 lead, but Slovak got out of trouble with a line drive double play and ground out.

Vermont added three insurance runs in the seventh, including RBI singles from Norris and Michael Guerrero. Arata led off the seventh with a double, finishing the game 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and a triple. Slovak picked up his third win of the year, while Austin Garrett tossed a perfect seventh inning to close out the sweep.

Washington Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young played his first game on a rehab assignment with the Lake Monsters in the nightcap, grounding out to second base in the first inning and doubling to left center with no one on in the third in his two at bats. He is scheduled to DH again on Tuesday before playing first base in the last four games of the season for the Lake Monsters at Centennial Field.

Those four games will come after Vermont (31-39), which moved into second-place in the Stedler Division ahead of Oneonta with the two wins Monday, play its final road game of the season on Tuesday night with Will Atwood scheduled to start. The Lake Monsters begin the four-game homestand to end the season on Wednesday.

Check out the Vermont Lake Monsters Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



New York-Penn League Stories from September 1, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central