The Vermont Mountaineers come into tonight's 6:30 p.m. contest with New Bedford on a two-game win streak and are back at .500 (8-8). The Bay Sox are 11-6 and 2nd in the Eastern Division while the Mountaineers are currently tied for 3rd in the Western Division. Vermont is 5-5 in its last 10 games while New Bedford is 7-3, including an 8-7 win over Vermont on Sunday in Massachusetts.
Vermont first baseman Rob Kelly is riding a 12-game on-base streak and will obviously be out to hit lucky No. 13.
New Bedford has one of the top offenses in the league, though. Two of the top four hitters (by average) are Bay Sox: Zach Stone is third at .366 and Alex Black is fourth at .365. The two of them have accounted for a combined seven home runs, 29 RBIs, 53 hits and 32 runs for the Bay Sox so far this summer. Black is also outstanding in the field, tallying 180 poutouts and seven assists having played in all 17 of New Bedford's games. He even pitched an inning of relief against Holyoke and earned the save.
Vermont has continued its base-stealing dominance and has two players inching closer to Robbie Minor's record of 38 for his career as a Mountaineer. John Mishu is at 32 and Brian O'Grady is at 30. As a team, Vermont has stolen 69 bases. The Mountaineers set a new league and franchise record of 118 last summer and are on pace to hit that mark again.
Vermont continues its homestand tomorrow against Holyoke at 6:30 p.m. The Mountaineers are then off for two days before a road trip to Holyoke on Tuesday and a home contest against Team Great Britain on the Fourth of July, also at 6:30 p.m.
- Anna Grearson
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