2026 Summer League- Championship!!

8/27/26- Grays 5 - Phillies 2

On a perfect night for baseball at Mackenzie Stadium, the #1 seed Phillies met the #2 seed Dorian Grays in a rematch of last year’s Championship game. The Phillies were vying for an unprecedented 2nd Championship in a row, while the Grays were itching to avenge last year’s 14-9 loss. The game was tight for 5 innings, until the Grays pulled away, but the Phillies put the tying run on first with 1 out in the 9th before falling, 5-2.

The Phillies started Krafty Ken Sloat, while the Grays countered with fireballer Steve Cole. Dave Rist led off the top of the first with a can of corn that CF Micah Winston, who was playing deep, made a nice sliding catch on. Tim Tremblay followed with a single, stole second, and scored on Tim Sigda’s rocketed double to deep right-center for a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, Cole beaned lead-off hitter Winston, but stranded him at 3B.

Sloat induced 2 fly outs to Winston in CF (who had 6 put-outs on the night) to start a 1-2-3 2nd. Then the Phillies knotted the game at 1 in their half when Sloat walked, Andy Klepacki singled, and Jim Fogarty singled in Sloat.

Sloat allowed only a single to Chris Bernacki in the 3rd, and Cole countered with a 1-2-3 inning, punctuated by a strikeout. Rist led off the top of the 4th and smacked a ball down the RF line, on which 78-year-old RFer Paul Kaplan raced over and made a magnificent sliding grab that earned him a standing ovation from the modest crowd and a hat-tip from Rist. Sloat worked around singles by Tremblay and Cole, inducing a 4-3 groundout to end the threat. Cole was on a roll, fanning 2 batters in the 4th as part of a 1-2-3 inning.

The Phillies manager, Klepacki, brought in flamethrower Colin Hosley to start the 5th. Jay Sadowski led off with a single, but was caught stealing on seed from Phillies’ catcher Matt Witek. Steve Powers was then plunked, stole 2B and scored on an E-5 off the bat of John Malikowski. In the bottom of the 5th, Yami Baker singled with 1 out, but Cole escaped with no damage when RF Bernacki made a nice running catch.

The Grays extended their lead to 4-1 in the 6th. RFer Kaplan made another sliding catch, this time off the bat of Mitch Gaslin, but with 2 outs, Rist singled and stole 2B, Tremblay singled him to 3B and stole 2B, and then Sigda lined a 2-run single up the middle. Klepacki led off the Phillies’ half with a single but was stranded at 3B when Cole fanned his 4th batter of the game.

In the 7th, Sadowski and Powers singled with 1 out, and Tim Bombard reached on an unsuccessful fielder’s choice to load the bases. However, Hosley induced a comebacker for a nifty 1-2-3 double play. With time running out for the Phillies, they mounted a rally when Ron Totten singled down the RF line and Steve Youngberg was HBP, but SS Rist nicely gobbled up a groundball up the middle and stepped on 2B to squelch the threat.

The Grays pushed the lead to a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead in the top of the 8th. With 1 out, Gaslin walked and stole 2B, and then Rist ripped an RBI triple to deep RF. The Phils went down without a peep in their half of the 8th.

Hosley allowed a lead-off single to Sigda, but then promptly picked him off, with 1B Totten applying the tag, and after a walk, and strikeout, the inning ended when Winston made a nice running catch on a deep drive to right-center by Sadowski.

With their backs against the wall, the Phillies loaded the bases with no outs off a tiring Cole. Hosley worked a walk on a full count, Sloat was hit by a pitch, and Klepacki reached on an infield single. Sigda relieved and fanned the first batter, but then Steve Malachite lined an RBI single up the middle. With the tying run on first, Phils batter John Wills hit a sharp grounder up the middle that took a nice hop for SS Rist, who stepped on second and gunned it to first baseman Ken Hartwright, who fittingly caught the final out in his last baseball game before retirement after 50+ years on the diamond.

Cole was masterful on the mound, allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits, 2 walks and 3 HBPs in 8+ innings, while striking out 4.

Top batters:

Grays: Dave Rist (2-4, 3B, R, RBI), Tim Tremblay (3-4, 2R), Tim Sigda (3-4, 3 RBI)

Phillies: Andy Klepacki (3-3)