Vermont Rides Back-to-back Wins into Break after 10-1 Domination of North Adams

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Vermont will ride back-to-back wins into the All-Star Break as the Mountaineers downed North Adams Saturday night, 10-1. The win marked consecutive wins for the first time since July 4th, and it was the Mountaineers’ first victory against the SteepleCats in 2025. 

The Basics

Score: Vermont 10, North Adams 1

Records: Vermont 13-24, North Adams 16-18

Location: Joe Wolfe Field

Rapid Recap

Oliver Ellison made his third start and recorded another strong outing. He mowed his way through six innings of work with only one run allowed. He punched out three and gave up eight hits. Vermont drew first blood with a run in the second inning. Christian Reyna’s leadoff walk, an error, a wild pitch and a Joey Baran sacrifice fly made it 1-0. Sam Gates led off the third with a single before he stole third with one out. RJ Johnson notched his first hit as a Mountaineer with an RBI single to right field. Johnson advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Reyna drove him in with an RBI single of his own to put Vermont on top 3-0. The Mountaineers sent nine to the plate in the fourth. Elliot Miles walked and scored from third on a wild pitch after Matthew Minckler doubled. Baran singled to score Minckler then stole second and moved to third on Conlan Daniel’s base hit. Daniel swiped second and scored with Baran on Sam Gates’ single. Vermont plated four on four hits and an error to take a 7-0 lead. Miles led off the fifth with his second walk of the game, and Minckler moved him to second with a single. A groundout moved each runner up a base, which allowed Daniel’s sacrifice fly to score Miles for an 8-0 start. North Adams scored their first run in the sixth behind three hits. However, Minckler made an incredible play at shortstop to rob the leadoff batter of a hit. Watch the grab here. David Alvarez entered off the bench and plated Minckler on a sacrifice fly in the seventh to go up 9-1. Miles’ RBI single in the eighth scored Reyna to make it a ten-run output for Vermont. Logan Ozias entered for Vermont in the seventh and worked through three scoreless innings to close out the contest. It was his first appearance as a Mountaineer.

Game Notes

WP: Oliver Ellison (1-0) | LP: David Johnson (0-1)
This is the Mountaineers’ largest win via run differential this season. The nine-run victory is a season-high, topping the previous high of six.
Eight of nine starters for Vermont tallied hits while all nine reached safely.
Vermont’s leadoff batters in each inning reached base successfully seven times. In Vermont’s previous trip to Joe Wolfe Field, zero leadoff hitters reached.
This is the fourth time this season Vermont has scored ten runs.
This is also the first time Vermont won when scoring ten runs. They were previously 0-3 when plating ten or more.
Vermont stole seven bases. They have 141 stolen bags and are averaging 3.8 per game. They are four bags away from breaking the NECBL record with 7 games remaining. 
The Mountaineers were held to ten bags in the seven games before this Friday. They have swiped 13 in the last two games.
Vermont is 3.5 games back of the fourth and final playoff spot with 7 to play.
Upper Valley is in fourth place, and Vermont will face them one more time with a chance to clinch the tiebreaker. The Nighthawks have ten games remaining.
The Mountaineers have made up two games in the standings since Wednesday’s loss.
North Adams leads the season series 4-1 with Vermont.
Vermont and North Adams will meet once more on July 23rd at 6:30 p.m. in Montpelier. 

Photo credit: Molly Smith, Broadcaster Director and Photography Intern 

Photo Description: The Mountaineers go through the handshake line after the win Saturday