BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The season is now underway for the Vermont Lake Monsters – and their games at Centennial Field offer more than just baseball.
Our Melissa Cooney spoke to Lake Monsters officials to get a behind-the-scenes look.
Director of Game Day Entertainment, Cassidy Penny, says there’s fun for everyone at the games.
Cassidy Penny: “There is so much happening at our games that I think people don’t really realize. We are a baseball team, but there’s so many fun activities that happen for pretty much all ages.”
Melissa: “I know there are also some pretty fun things that happen on the field. So tell me about what people can expect, maybe in between the innings or during halftime.”
Cassidy Penny: “Usually myself, I’m our in-game host, I’m on the field with some kids or adults and contestants as we have some fun with games throughout each inning. This in particular is a really fun piece. It’s a go-kart that we deliver water to as well as a nonalcoholic IPA to our umpires as they’re out on the field in the middle of the game. So that’s just one example of a lot of the fun things that are happening here.”
Vermont Lake Monsters coach Matt Fincher says the team does their best to recruit players from Vermont.
Melissa: “We have some Vermont players on the team… What does that mean for them to get to play at Centennial in their hometown?
Matt Fincher: “Yeah, I mean, it’s proven to be a big deal for them. We always tried to do a really good job of recruiting kids from Vermont. We have Colby Brouillette and Wyatt Cameron for the fourth year, they’re both from Vermont. We have a couple of local Burlington players, Zach Davis and Nick Keller, that will be willing to play at some point when their high school season gets completed. So yeah, we do the best we can to pull people out of Vermont and you know, they’ve done a great job for us and the fans seem to love them.”
Melissa: “Really cool. They get to play in a place where their own family can come and watch, especially if they go to college out of state. It’s pretty exciting. And what are some rule changes this year, for fans that are paying attention or for the players, what are some things that might be different this year?”
Matt Fincher: “One big rule change will be how we handle x-ray and so this year, you know, traditionally in the futures League, we’ve gone home run derby and the 10th inning, and this year, they’ve added the ghost runner at second base, so the 10th inning will be played with a runner at second base. And if nobody scores in the 10th, both teams get their shot at that, and if nobody scores then, in the 11th we’ll go to the traditional homerun derby that everyone’s familiar with.”
Senior Vice President of the Lake Monsters, CJ Knudsen, expects the 30th season to draw in big crowds.
Melissa: “CJ, what are you folks looking forward to this season?”
CJ Knudsen: “Yeah, this year marks our 30th season. So that’s kind of the theme that you’ll hear throughout the summer. We expect to draw over 100,000 fans here. We got great giveaways, three firework shows, three 25-cent hotdog nights, so it’s a jam-packed summer.”
Melissa: “Very exciting. And I know that Vermont Creemees are making an appearance this summer. Tell me a little bit of what that means for folks.”
CJ Knudsen: “Yeah, we launched the brand Vermont Creemees about a year ago to kind of pay tribute and homage to the delicious ice cream. So now we’re gonna play one game as the Vermont Creemees right here on Centennial Field, and we’re going to take on the New England Lobster Rolls. So it’s gonna be a food fight at the end of July, and it’s gonna be great time, we’re gonna have a lobster truck, here two creemee trucks here, and this is a great way to have a delicious creemee at the ballpark.”
Melissa: “It doesn’t get more Vermont than that as far as I’m concerned, which is pretty exciting and you guys have had a really successful past few seasons. What are you doing to keep the momentum going for this baseball season?”
CJ Knudsen: “Yeah, we fortunately have the best of the best players in the country. They come here. They want to spend the summer in Burlington playing in front of 4,000 fans and so we have a great strong roster and so we should hopefully win a lot of ballgames this summer and make it to the playoffs and hopefully bring back a championship.”
Melissa: “Very exciting. And for you folks. You know, anything you’re looking forward to whether that’s being undefeated or bringing more crowds what are some goals for you for the season?”
CJ Knudsen: “Really just continue to have fans come out to the ballpark. It’s really affordable family entertainment, kids eat free every Wednesday, run the bases, there’s baseball clinics. You know, it’s the staff that we’re really proud of, in 2023 we donated goods and services and monetary donations over $100,000 for communities in the state of Vermont. So it’s something that we really love having the community involved. And thanks them for their support.”
You can watch the Lake Monsters on WYCI on Monday afternoon. See here for a game schedule.