SeaWolves Season Concludes in Championship Series Loss

READING, PA - The Erie SeaWolves 2026 season wrapped up on Tuesday night in game two of the Eastern League Championship Series against the Reading Fightin Phils with a 13-4 loss. It marks the fifth consecutive season that the SeaWolves have won the Eastern League's Southwest Division and a year filled with milestones for the organization and individual players.

The evening started quickly on offense when Zyhir Hope blasted a two-run home run following a leadoff walk to Peyton Graham to spring Erie out to a 2-0 lead at the end of the first.

Erie starter Lucas Elissalt made quick work of the first two innings on the mound. The right-hander faced the minimum and struck out three hitters.

Reading got to Elissalt for the first time in the fourth inning. Dante Nori opened the frame with a single before Aidan Miller knocked him home on an RBI-double to claw one run closer. After Raylin Heredia's single pushed Miller to third, he quickly scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at two.

Erie immediately pushed through a response when Aidan Miller threw away what should have been an inning-ending ground ball in the fifth inning from Thayron Liranzo and allowed Izaac Pacheco to score to give Erie a 3-2 lead.

Elissalt surrendered three consecutive singles to open the sixth inning before he was pulled for reliever Colin Fields, who walked the first batter he faced to tie the game at three. After Fields struck out Aroon Escobar, Caleb Ricketts launched a grand slam to right field to give Reading a 7-3 lead. A single and walk later, it was Bryan Rincon who delivered another base hit to extend the Fightin's lead to 8-3.

The Fightin Phils piled on in the seventh inning against Erie reliever Zane Barnhart. Carson DeMartini was walked with one out and subsequently scored on a triple from Escobar.

It was once again DeMartini getting involved in the eighth inning when he crushed a second Fightin Phils grand slam to extend the lead to 13-3.

EJ Exposito made a final remark in the ninth inning when he mashed a solo home run off of Estibenzon Jimenez to make it 13-4 Phils. That score would hold and deliver Reading its first Eastern League Championship since 1995.

The SeaWolves return to action at UPMC Park on April 6th against the Harrisburg Senators. Tickets are available at SeaWolves.com and at the UPMC Park box office.