Let the Games Begin!

As the calendar flips to March, Spring Training intensifies in the form of intrasquad games at the Carpenter Complex. Mycal Jones' High-A Phillies team took down Aaron Barrett's Single-A squad 7-5 in the opening intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday afternoon.

The Phillies first-round draft pick, Gage Wood, got the start for the High-A squad and struck out two of the four batters he faced in the opening frame. John Spikerman began the bottom of the first with a double and moved to third on a single by Devin Saltiban. Saltiban was caught stealing second on a perfect throw from catcher Jordan Dissin, and the game remained scoreless after the first. That all changed in the top of the second, when Luke Davis hit a solo home run to left-center field to open the scoring for the Single-A Squad.

High-A answered in the bottom of the third inning, beginning with a leadoff single by Saltiban. He quickly stole second and scored on an RBI single by Austin Murr that tied the game at one. But Aaron Barrett's Single-A squad was not done yet, beginning a rally with one out in the fourth inning courtesy of a double from Brock Vradenberg. After Davis walked, Dissin gave his team back the lead on a single that scored Vradenburg from second. The back-and-forth continued in the bottom of the frame with a one-out single by Nick Biddison. The next batter, Jose Colmenares, doubled to right-center, scoring Biddison and tying the game at two. Spikerman followed with another double, plating Colmenares and giving the High-A squad their first lead of the game. After Spikerman stole third, Raylin Heredia roped a single into center, doubling the High-A lead to 4-2.

After holding the Single-A side scoreless in the top of the fifth, Mycal Jones' group piled on in the fifth, which began with a double by Alex Binelas. Murr followed with a ground ball, but an errant throw to first allowed him to reach safely and moved Binelas to second base. Both would score on a hit by Will Vierling, which came dangerously close to becoming a diving catch in centerfield by Nathan Humphreys. Single-A's outfield couldn't get the ball back in, and Vierling scored all three runners to stretch the lead to 7-2.

Single-A stormed back in the top of the sixth inning, starting hot out of the gate with a Logan Dawson leadoff single. He moved to second when Humphreys walked and scored on a ground rule double by Jonathan Hogart to decrease the disadvantage to four runs. The next batter struck out on a wild pitch that allowed Humphreys to score from third and halve the deficit to two runs. A Robert Davis RBI single with two outs cut the deficit to one run, the closest the score had been since High-A took the lead.

In the final inning for the home team, Heredia tripled to start the frame and scored on a wild pitch to extend the High-A lead back to two runs. Saul Teran came in for the ninth and struck out the final two batters in a 1-2-3 ninth to seal a 7-5 win for Mycal Jones and his High-A squad in the first scrimmage of Spring Training.

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