Vermont Sweeps Doubleheader To Open 2007 Season
June 20, 2007 - BURLINGTON, VT -- Bill Rhinehart supplied the offense in the first game and the Lake Monsters scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning of the nightcap as Vermont swept a doubleheader from the Tri-City ValleyCats 4-2 and 3-2 in the New York-Penn League opener for both teams Wednesday night at historic Centennial Field.
Rhinehart went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the first inning to give the Lake Monsters a 1-0 lead and then smacked a two-run homer in the third inning for a 3-0 lead. Dan Lyons, who was 2-for-2 with a walk, scored on both of Rhinehart’s extra base hits.
Vermont added a unearned run in the fourth inning on a bases loaded infield single from Lyons for a 4-0 lead. Hassan Pena (1-0), who struggled to start the game with back-to-back walks, settled down to allow just one hit and one more walk over the first five innings before Tri-City got on the board in the sixth inning.
Three straight singles, including an RBI single by Brandon Barnes, to leadoff the sixth ended the day for Pena. Cole Kimball relieved Pena with runners on the corners and worked out of the inning allowing just an RBI groundout and keeping the Lake Monsters on top 4-2.
The ValleyCats loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh on back-to-back walks and an infield single, but Kimball got Barnes to popout to end the game and earn his first save.
Tri-City starter Colt Adams (0-1) allowed four runs (three earned) over four innings for the loss, while Colin DeLomme had three of the ValleyCats five hits in the opener.
The Lake Monsters manufactured their first run in the bottom of the sixth inning in game two as Mark Gildea walked to leadoff the inning. He then stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a 0-2 wild pitch with Rhinehart batting. Vermont then got a pair of insurance runs on a Jorge De la Cruz RBI double and Agustin German RBI infield single for a 3-0 lead.
Those runs would prove valuable as Russell Dixon smashed a one-out, two-run homer off Edulin Abreu (1-0) in the top of the seventh. Alberto Tavarez came on to retire the final two batters for the save.
Vermont starter Glenn Gibson allowed two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts over five innings in a no-decision. Including six shutout innings at the end of the 2006 season, Gibson has allowed just four hits in 11 scoreless innings with the Lake Monsters.
De la Cruz had two doubles and German 2-for-2 for the Lake Monsters, while Dixon was 2-for-3 with the two-run homer for the ValleyCats. Tri-City starter Thomas Vessella allowed just three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts over five innings.
With the doubleheader sweep, Vermont has won its first two games of the season for the first time since 2004 and just the third time in its 14-year history (began 2001 season 8-0). The win in game one was just the fourth time in 14 years that the Lake Monsters have won the season-opener.
Vermont will look for the three-game sweep of Tri-City when the Lake Monsters host the ValleyCats at Centennial on Thursday beginning at 7:05 p.m. and followed by a post-game fireworks show.
