The Aberdeen IronBirds picked up their second series victory of the season on Monday night, beating the host Vermont Lake Monsters 10-5 for Aberdeen's fourth win of the six-game home and home set.
The victory in Bennington, in a game that also had a 90-minute rain delay, upped Aberdeen's record to 8-22 on the season. The IronBirds remain at the bottom of the New York-Penn League's McNamara Division.
In the opening inning, after Aberdeen's Glynn Davis and Sammie Starr started things with back-to-back groundouts, Mychal Givens cracked a single, and cleanup man Joe Velleggia followed with a two-run home run over the right field wall, his fifth homer of the season.
Aberdeen added four to its lead in the fourth inning, with Velleggia starting the rally by poking a leadoff single into right. Connor Narron was the second Aberdeen hitter to get on, reaching via a fielder's choice, and Chris Clinton loaded up the bags by taking a pitch off his body.
Dudley Leonora then hit a long fly on which Velleggia tagged up and scored his team's third run, and Martin Serrata followed with a single that plated Narron from second. With Davis at the plate, Clinton broke for the plate and stole home, while Serrata stole second. The Lake Monster catcher's throw was wild, and Serrata motored all the way home, making the score 6-0.
In the sixth, with Aberdeen up 6-1, Leonora laced a one-out single over second base, and Serrata followed with a base hit that moved Leonora over to third. With two men down, Serrata attempted to steal second, but before the tag was applied, Leonora was able to scramble home for Aberdeen's seventh tally.
Davis kicked off Aberdeen's final turn at the plate with a walk, then promptly stole both second and third. Starr earned a walk, and Givens hit a single to center that brought Davis home.
Velleggia loaded up the bases with a single up the middle, and Sawyer smacked a base hit that pushed Starr across the plate for the inning's second run. Aberdeen's final score came when Narron earned a bases loaded walk that plated Givens, and put the IronBirds up 10-4.
Vermont scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings and scored twice in the seventh.
Velleggia had Aberdeen's hottest bat, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Givens went 3-for-5 in the victory, while Serrata finished 3-for-4.
Earning the win for Aberdeen was reliever Devin Jones, who tossed three innings of one-hit ball, striking out two, walking three and allowing one earned run.
Parker Bridwell started for the IronBirds and went three innings, striking out two, issuing no walks and holding Vermont to one hit.
Angel Cespedes earned his second save of the season with a three-inning stint, allowing five hits and three earned runs, while striking out one hitter.
The IronBirds return home to Ripken Stadium Tuesday evening to take on Brooklyn. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.