2025 Summer League Results- Week 6

6/4/25- Plugs 6 - Wonders 2

The Plug Uglies hosted the Wonders at Mitchell Field (aka The Swirl) for their second matchup of the season. Greg “G-Bomb” Elbaum started for the Plugs and 2024 MVP Rick Stacy started for the Wonders.

The Uglies got to work early when leadoff hitter Bill Evans reached on a walk and quickly stole second. Matt Boulanger walked, then he and Evans pulled off a double steal to place both in scoring position. Jeff Whitehead hit into a 4-3 that scored Evans, and Elbaum singled to drive in Boulanger. In the second inning Steve Wall scored when Justin Gaudette hit into a 4-3. After two the Plugs had the lead 3-0.

The Wonders got on the board in the top of the third when Andy Ayres reached on a single and was driven in by Kevin O’Grady. The Uglies answered in the 4th with a 2 RBI single from Mike Olkin to keep the Uglies in the lead 5-1.

The visitors got another run in the fifth when Shawn Thompson singled and made it home on an E-5 induced by Ayres. But the Plugs didn’t let up: Boulanger drove in another run in the bottom frame and the Uglies led by four.

In the top of the sixth the Wonders threatened when Chris Ciepiela reached on an E-4 and moved to second on a Tom Sebastian single. But G-Bomb kept his cool and got a groundout to end the rally.

Jeff Whitehead came on in the 7th to close it out and quickly had Ayres on first and O’Grady on second with one out, but he settled down to get the last two batters to fly out and the ballgame was over. Final score: Plug Uglies 6, Wonders 2.

WP: Greg Elbaum. LP: Rick Stacy. SV: Jeff Whitehead

Rick Stacy 5 innings 4 walks, 4 K’s

Shawn Thompson 1 inning 1 walk 1K

Greg Elbaum 6 innings 2 walks 5 k’s  7 hits

Jeff Whitehead 1inning

6/5/25- Phillies 6 - Isotopes 2

On an unusually sultry evening in Holyoke, the 3-0 Phillies hoped to remain undefeated, while the Isotopes hoped to avenge their opening day 6-2 loss while simultaneously knocking off an undefeated team for the 2nd week in a row. Alas, it was not to be, as the Phillies settled into their winning recipe of lights-out pitching, near-flawless defense, and clutch hitting up and down the lineup.

Phil’s hurler, Colin Hosley, was masterful, save for a slight blip in the 2nd inning, giving up 5 hits, fanning a pair, walking 2 and inducing a mind-boggling 14 groundouts.

Hosley took care of the 1st by himself, with a trio of 1-3 groundouts sandwiching a walk. In the bottom of the frame, the Phillies immediately struck when Micah Winston singled, advanced to 2nd on a throwing error and scored on Stephen Malachite’s RBI single. Paul Griswold grounded into FC, then stole 2b and came around on Hosley’s double to right-center. After an Andy Klepacki single, Ken Sloat brought Hosley home with a screamer to LF.

The Isotopes fought back in the top of the 2nd. Dave Warner singled and advanced on a wild pitch. Mike Arbour also singled and then stole 2B and JayZ walked to load the bases. With no outs, Jesse Higginbotham plated two with a monstrous ground-rule double to deep LF. However, Hosley bore down, retired two and struck out the third, stranding 2 runners in scoring position. The Isotopes only managed 3 more baserunners the rest of the game – 2 hits and an error.

In the bottom of the 4th, the Phils got a little breathing room. With 1 out, Sean St. Marie smashed a double to right-center, Sloat was plunked and John Wills legged out on an IF hit. Jim “Kruk” Fogarty then skied a can of corn to shallow LF. Scott Dunaisky made a valiant attempt at a sliding catch, but the ball popped out of his glove as he hit the ground. He was able to get the force at 3B, but St. Marie scampered home on the play. Then team elder and founding Phillie, Paul Kaplan, followed with a line drive RBI single to RF for a 5-2 advantage.

The Phillies tacked on one more insurance run in the 6th when Hosley singled, and pinch-runner Paul Griswold advanced on a PB and then scored on Sloat’s 2nd RBI single of the game. Hosley shut the door in the 7th with 3 easy IF groundouts, taking the last one himself.

The Phillies defense went an astounding 18 innings over 3 games without making an error before making a harmless one with 2 outs in the 6th. Wills was solid at 2B with 4 chances, SS Klepacki came out of nowhere with a over-the-shoulder snag on a looper behind third base and Stephen “Stretch” Malachite made every groundout look easy with his acrobatic plays at 1B. Emilio Chaverri made 2 nice running catches in CF for the Isotopes.

Malachite, Hosley (2 R) and Sloat (2 RBI) each had 2 hits to lead the Phils. Higginbotham was 2-2 for the Isotopes and Gary Webber reached twice on a hit and a walk.

6/5/25- Grays 3 - Goats 0