Vermont Squeezes Out Win Tuesday

BURLINGTON, VT --- Boog Powell's acrobatic suicide-squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Wilfredo Solano with the game-ending run as the Vermont Lake Monsters defeated the Hudson Valley Renegades 2-1 in New York-Penn League action Tuesday afternoon in front of 3,056 (most campers) at historic Centennial Field.

Solano led off the bottom of the 10th with a double off the leftcenter field wall and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Ryan Gorton. Solano then took off for home as Renegade reliever Eli Echarry's first pitch to Powell came in right at the Vermont centerfielder's legs, but Powell was able to get his bat on the ball while jumping up in air and laid a perfect squeeze bunt down the first base line to end the game.

The Lake Monsters had tied the game 1-1 in the sixth inning on a leadoff home run from Gorton for his first homer of the season. Gorton, who entered the game just 2-for-30 on the season, also singled in eighth for a two-hit game before his sac bunt in the ninth. Powell was 3-for-4 at the plate, including a pair of bunt singles in the third and eighth innings.

Vermont starter Dylan Covey allowed just two hits with five strikeouts over four innings, while Tyler Johnson one run on two hits in four innings of relief. The Renegades scored their only run of the game in the fifth on a Granden Goetzman one-out double and James Harris two-out RBI single. Trevor Bayless tossed two hitless innings of relief to pick up the win for Vermont (10-12), which won its second game in a row for just the second time this season.

It was also the second straight day that Vermont pitching allowed just one run and the eighth time in the last 19 games as Lake Monster hurlers lowered their team ERA to 2.93 for the season. Having come into the series leading the league with 31 errors, Vermont's defense also played its third straight errorless game and have not committed an error in their last 34 innings.

Renegades starter Aaron Griffin allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts over six innings in a no-decision, while Eli Echarry (2-1) gave up the run in the 10th to take the loss for Hudson Valley (13-10).

Vermont heads on the road for the next six games with a pair of three-game series at Batavia and Mahoning Valley. The Lake Monsters will return to Centennial Field on July 17th to begin a six-game homestand against Aberdeen and Auburn through July 22nd.