St. Mike’s baseball players moonlight as Lake Monsters for the summer

The long run from the bull pen to the pitcher’s mound at Centennial Field in Burlington is unlike any other, according to Braedon Jones ’26.  

Upon stepping onto the field, the roar of the crowd hits as you see thousands of faces in the stands. The adrenaline is pumping, and you have to put on a game-time mindset, reminding yourself it is the same game you’ve played since you were a kid, when you were once just another fan of the Vermont Lake Monsters.  

Jones, Sam Cavossa ’26 and Matt Safer ’26 are Saint Michael’s College baseball players who’ve been able to play for the Vermont Lake Monsters during the summer – the off-season for college baseball. The revered local team features “Champ,” the famed monster in Lake Champlain, as its mascot. 

The Lake Monsters was a minor league Oakland A’s feeder team until 2021, when it joined the Futures League – a summer collegiate league.  

Since then, St. Mike’s players have had a unique opportunity to play at a high level right here at home and take on the semi-celebrity status that goes along with being a Monster. For locals like Jones, who is from Williston, Vermont, the experience is a meaningful, full-circle one for the kid Lake Monsters fan that still resides in him.  

Braedon Jones ’26 throws a pitch during a Vermont Lake Monsters game in summer 2025. (Photo courtesy of Greg Bessette)

Purple Monsters, Lake Knights: Combining team identities  

The Lake Monsters organization makes a point to incorporate local players into its roster when possible and emphasizes local connections during player announcements during the games and in social media posts.   

The team draws players from all over the country, including some Division 1 players. But the Lake Monsters’ season begins before some collegiate teams have completed their postseason runs and can extend beyond the point when players need to go back to school for the fall semester. So, local players become extra valuable in the early season and can be called on again for the postseason. In this case, a temporary contract allows them to play as many as 12 games with the team.  

All three St. Mike’s players who’ve played with the Lake Monsters began as temporary contract players. In the 2023 and 2025 seasons, Jones got to pitch in the early season and at the home opener, and Cavossa started out filling in at the catcher’s box in 2024.  

It’s a good way to get some high-profile summer ball in but still have time for work to earn money the rest of the summer, according to Jones.  

This 2025 season, Cavossa is coming off a hot streak with St. Mike’s as a hitter/outfielder and has a full contract with the Lake Monsters, which means he could play 62 games with six more if they go to the league playoffs. Upon interviewing him in late June, he was second in the Futures League for batting average at .427, third in RBIs (or runs batted in), and was first in the team’s batting line-up. His success is certainly upping the profile for Saint Michael’s College baseball, for the community, and beyond.  

Sam Cavossa ’26 gives a high-five to a fan as he walks off the field during a Vermont Lake Monsters game in summer 2025. (Photo courtesy of Greg Bessette)

From Doc Jacobs Field to Centennial Field 

Braedon Jones ’26 pauses to sign an autograph for a young fan after a Vermont Lake Monsters game in summer 2025. (Courtesy photo)

The most notable difference between playing a home game at St. Mike’s versus the Lake Monsters is the fans.  

Cavossa said St. Mike’s audiences are mostly made up of friends and families of players, but at the Lake Monsters games, there are thousands of fans each night –  including upwards of 4,000 fans on the popular 25-cent “Hot Dog Hysteria” nights.  

“Playing in front of that many people is so cool,” Cavossa said. “When I’m in the outfield sometimes I’ll look up and look at all the people, and it is so crazy. And it’s all positive energy, so there’s no real pressure on you.” 

The young kids treat them like celebrities. He estimates he’s signed a thousand autographs, many of them on baseballs – though he claimed he doesn’t have the best signature.  

Jones said the audience is especially supportive of local players.  

“I feel like there’s a little bit more energy that comes from the crowd understanding that there’s a local kid out on the mound,” he said. “Whether I had my best outing or worst outing, I’ll come off the field and they’ll still be young kids asking for my autograph. They don’t really care how well you do – they’re there for you.” 

The audience can be broader now that some home games are broadcast on TV on WYCI (sister station to local WCAX). Jones said his aunts and uncles in southern Vermont watched, and even a buddy working at a bar caught him pitching at the home opener live and sent him a video.  

Sam Cavossa ’26 walks off the field at a Vermont Lake Monsters game in summer 2025. (Photo by Sophie Burt ’26)

Through this opportunity, St. Mike’s players get to play with some high-level players, some of whom could get drafted into professional leagues. Jones said it’s pretty special to be put in that category, and the friendships he made he expects will be long-lasting.  

Cavossa said using a wooden bat and hitting against more powerful pitches has made him a stronger player, and he hopes that momentum will continue into his final season at St. Mike’s. In college ball, metal bats are typically used and tend to be more forgiving and propel the ball further. 

Cavossa said it was a rebuilding year for St. Mike’s baseball this past season, and while he wouldn’t change anything about coming to St. Mike’s to play, it has been fun to play for the Lake Monsters, which is one of the winningest teams in the league. He said of the Futures League venues, Burlington is the best place to play because of the size and enthusiasm of the audience.  

On the other end of the spectrum, he said $1 beer nights at the Worcester field tend to bring out the hecklers. As a Cape Cod native, Cavossa said that field is the closest one for his parents to attend, but the heckling sometimes brings out his mother’s protective nature. Despite this, he takes it all in stride, realizing that the sometimes wacky gimmicks to encourage attendance and colorful fans are all a part of the experience. He’s relishing every chance he gets to play, knowing it won’t last forever.   

Baseball cards and a walk-off that lives on: Unforgettable ‘Monster’ moments 

The entire experience playing for the Lake Monsters has been an incredible one, but Jones and Cavossa each had a standout moment they say they will treasure.  

For Jones, a 2025 season fan came up to him and had Jones’ Lake Monsters baseball card from two seasons prior, asking him to sign it.  

“That was a really cool experience – signing my own baseball card. I never thought I’d be able to do that,” he said. 

Sam Cavossa ’26 swings at a pitch during a Vermont Lake Monsters game in summer 2025. (Photo courtesy of Greg Bessette)

At a June 6 game, Cavossa had a walk-off – when a member of the home team gets a hit that scores the winning point in the final inning.  

“It was electric,” he said. “They showered me in Gatorade and water and that was a blast – very unique experience.”  

It was a late night, so the crowd was smaller, but the organization posted the video to Instagram. Now, Cavossa and others can relive that triumphant moment over and over again.  

Leading off a legacy  

Jones and Cavossa hope their inclusion in the Futures League sparks a legacy of St. Mike’s-Lake Monsters players – St. Mikesters, perhaps – that will continue long after them. 

The opportunity is one that could attract future players to St. Mike’s and bring attention to the Saint Michael’s College baseball program, which is the oldest varsity program at the College, dating back to 1904.  

The players said St. Mike’s can be underappreciated even among their collegiate conference (the NE10), so any chance to elevate the team’s reputation through the success of its players is good for the whole program.    

Certainly, Cavossa’s success is invigorating for the Purple Knights.  

Cavossa, who also played for the Mountaineers in Montpelier in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, which is a debatably higher level, said playing for the Lake Monsters has been special. 

Braedon Jones ’26 looks toward home plate as he prepares to throw a pitch during a Vermont Lake Monsters game in summer 2025. (Photo courtesy of Greg Bessette)

Jones first played at Centennial Field as a junior in high school when his Champlain Valley Union High School team won the men’s baseball Division 1 Championship. That place has taken him from fan to high school champ to Monster alongside “Champ.”  

Jones played in just a few games for the Lake Monsters but is incredibly grateful. He is embracing the moment as a culmination of all the hard work he’s put into this game since he was a kid in the stands.  

“Capping it off with having one final summer with the Lake Monsters puts a cherry on top for me being from here and pitching in front of the home crowd on the field I was going to when I was young,” he said. 

Both Jones and Cavossa are studying Business Administration at Saint Michael’s, following in the footsteps of their parents who are business owners. Once the final inning of their baseball careers wraps, they have a plan for their future and are grateful to have followed the baseball dream this far. 

In the meantime, St. Mike’s baseball fans and the community-at-large can catch #24, that is Sam Cavossa, for the rest of the Lake Monsters’ 2025 summer season. The St. Mike’s baseball season resumes in February.