Eastern League ( AA ) - Reading 6 ( 10-16 ) Portland 4 ( 13-13 )
Portland, ME - Hadlock Field
Summary : One PM start time
Josh Ockimey hit a three run home run in the first inning.
Portland scored a run in the second inning on an RBI double by Hudson Potts.
Freylin Minyety singled in the 7th inning and scored when Vito Friscia doubled down the right field line. Minyety scored from first base and made a great slide at the plate to avoid the tag on a bang-bang play !
Portland scored three runs in the seventh inning on three singles, a double, walk and two wild pitches.
Josh Ockimey hit his second home run of the game in the 8th inning - a two run shot.
On The Hill :
RH Jack Perkins - 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K’s - 73 pitches - 46 strikes - good outing
RH McKinley Moore - 1 2/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K’s, WP - 37 pitches - 25 strikes
RH Billy Sullivan - 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K’s 2 WP, 2 inherited runners scored - 26 pitches - 17 strikes
RH Bubby Rossman - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K’s - 14 pitches - 7 strikes
At Bat : 8 H, 3 BB, 12 K’s
Josh Ockimey hit two home runs and posted five RBIs. Freylin Minyety had two hits, the young man can swing the bat at any level ! Vito Friscia doubled and has now reached base safely in 10 consecutive games.
Notes :
The club has been hit by a mini wrath of injuries of late in regards to position players. Today Vito Friscia made his pro debut as a left fielder and newly signed Chris Sharpe played center field.
Friscia threw a runner out at the plate in the seventh inning - guess they didn’t know the big fella has the hose of a catcher 👍💪. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe gunned down a runner at second base attempting to steal to end the same inning.
Logan O’Hoppe was ejected in the top of the eighth inning for arguing a strike three call on him - ball was outside but called a strike.
Josh Ockimey - file photo - taken by George Youngs Jr
Extended Spring Training :
A four inning morning intra squad scrimmage today on Ashburn Field.
On The Hill :
LH Kent Emmanuel pitched two innings. The 29 year old 40 man roster slot owner was placed on the 60 day IL on March 20th, he threw a live bullpen on Tuesday. In today’s session he was generally in the lower nineties and recorded a couple strikeouts with one walk, he was tagged for three hits.
LH Ethan Evanko threw three innings. He finished strong with a perfect frame and recorded three K’s overall. Ethan yielded three runs on five hits and walked none.
RH Ofreidy Gomez threw two frames and allowed one run on one hit and one walk, he struck out two batters.
RH Kyle Glogoski had a very strong outing punching out three batters in an extended frame where he recorded four outs. Had good pop on his fastball today and a sharp break on both the slider and changeup.
At Bat & Defense :
Scott Kingery hit a long home run, walked and struck out in three plate appearances. He also played second base defensively. Perhaps is close to a rehab assignment with a full season squad 🤔.
Erick Brito was 2 for 3 with a triple and single, he lined out to left field in his third AB. The 19 year old infielder continually impresses with his fielding prowess ( plays SS in this camp ) and bat speed, today showed off the wheels legging out the triple to left center field.
Felix Reyes ( 21 years old ) hit an absolute screamer down the left field line that got to the fence quickly - he rolled into second base easily with a two run double. Felix also made the defensive play of the day in left field. He sprinted far past the left field line ( was initially shaded to left center field ) and tacked down a wind blown fly ball about 20 feet past the foul line, he then threw a laser to third base right on the bag that would have nabbed the base runner tagging from second but the ball was dropped by the third baseman. The young man is very strong, bat speed I would have to believe is high - can really drive the baseball - today he showed big time hustle and defensive skills as well.
Chris Burke, Nikau Pouaka-Grego & Uziel Viloria all had singles in the scrimmage. Randy Vasquez had a double.
Catcher Freddy Francisco showed off a strong arm with a pickoff throw to first base to record an out.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Kent Emmanuel - photo by Barbara Potter