Ethan Anderson had a two-run double, Ethan Firestone a solo homer, and Francis Ferguson allowed one run over six-plus innings as the Vermont Lake Monsters continued its hot July with a 3-1 Futures League victory over the Nashua Silver Knights in a game completed early due to field conditions July 27 in front of a season-high 2,597 fans at UVM Centennial Field in Burlington.

Nashua took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third with a one-out Connor Hujsak double and Brandon Fish RBI single off of Ferguson (Eastern Nazarene), who settled down to retire 11 of the next 12 batters he faced before leaving the game with two outs in the top of the seventh.

Anderson (Virginia) put the Lake Monsters in front in the bottom of the third inning with the two-out, two-run double scoring Darren Hagan (Coppin State) and Justin Rubin (Virginia). Anderson added a single in the sixth and is now hitting .392 (20-for-51) with 16 RBI in 15 games started since joining Vermont.

Firestone (Southern Cal) hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot to left center in the fourth to give the Lake Monsters a 3-1 lead.

After Ferguson (one walk and five strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings) left, Silas Reed came on to get the final out the top of the seventh and his first save when the game was called prior to the start of the bottom of the inning.

Vermont (30-20) has now won 18 of its last 20 games and moves into a first-place tie with Brockton (28-18), which was rained out on Tuesday. The Lake Monsters continue the homestand as they host Nashua followed by New Britain Thursday, July 29, and Friday, July 30.

UPDATE: with another win July 28, the Lake Monsters tied a Burlington minor league record for wins in one month, set in 1995 by the Vermont Expos.