Lowell Defeats Vermont 3-1 in Rain-Shortened Six innings

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Sunday night at Edward A. LeLacheur Park, the Vermont Lake Monsters (7-4) made their first appearance of the season against the Lowell Spinners. Sunday’s matchup featured a stark contrast in the FCBL standings, pitting a Vermont squad tied for first place against a last-place Spinners team (3-7). The contest marked game three of a four-game homestand for Lowell, who entered the night having split their first two games.

Right-hander Ian Keusch made his third appearance of the summer for the Spinners, still searching for his first victory of the season. In his previous two outings, Keusch had struggled to a 9.00 ERA over a combined 7.0 innings. Following a scoreless first inning, the Lake Monsters capitalized on a defensive miscue to push across an unearned run in the top of the second. A throwing error by Spinners second baseman Zander Bratspis (Kansas State) allowed a Vermont runner to reach second base. A routine groundout moved the runner to third before Travis Stroh (Fairleigh Dickinson) drove him home with a sharp infield single to shortstop, giving Vermont an early 1-0 lead.

Albert Savino made his second appearance of the summer for the Lake Monsters, looking to bounce back from a rough start that left him with a 13.50 ERA over just two-thirds of an inning. Savino settled in beautifully early, retiring six of the first seven batters he faced through two frames. Lowell finally cracked him in the bottom of the third. With one out and the bases loaded, David Vanderzouwen (Bentley) lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center field to pull the Spinners even at 1-1.

After three solid innings, Savino exited the game and handed the ball to Chase Burrows (Babson), who tossed a scoreless fourth for Vermont. Finn Haines (Rutgers) then took over on the mound in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Haines ran into major trouble as two hits and a walk loaded the bases for Lowell. Bradley McCafferty (Virginia) delivered the biggest blow of the night, lining a clutch, two-out single up the middle to drive in two runs and give the Spinners a 3-1 advantage.

That would be all the run support Keusch needed. He capped off a stellar performance, earning his first win of the summer (1-2) after tossing 6.0 superb innings, allowing just 4 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, and striking out 1. Henry Hebert (Merrimack) came on to pitch the seventh, but Mother Nature ultimately had the final say. With two runners on and two outs, a heavy downpour halted play. Following a brief rain delay, the game was officially called, securing a 3-1 victory for the Spinners after six complete innings. Haines (0-1) was tagged with the loss.

Lowell will wrap up their four-game homestand on Monday morning with an 11:00 AM rematch against these same Vermont Lake Monsters.