Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
On the first cool fall night of 2026, the Reading Fightin Phils became Eastern League Champions for the first time since 1995.
The Fightins lived up to their name Tuesday night. Without Gage Wood available to pitch, Manager Al Pedrique started with Ryan Dromboski against the Erie SeaWolves. The U Penn grad struggled early, allowing a two-run homer to the second batter of the game, Tigers' top prospect Zyhir Hope.
After allowing two singles to start the second, Dromboski left the game with just one out in the second. His replacement, Jack Dallas, came out swinging and stranded the two baserunners. He kept the Fightins in the game through the fourth inning, allowing only a walk.
Reading's hitters responded to Dallas' sterling performance by tying things up in the bottom of the fourth. The Phillies' seventh-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, Dante Nori led off with a single and scored on an Aidan Miller double to left. After advancing on a Raylin Heredia single, Miller scored on a wild pitch to tie it at two runs apiece.
While Aidan Miller had a good game offensively, he committed a costly error (at the time) in the fifth inning. With runners on first and third, Miller threw a grounder into the dirt at first base past Bryson Ware, giving the lead back to the SeaWolves.
They wouldn't have the lead for long as the Fightins' offense exploded in the sixth. Nori, Miller, Heredia, Pedro Leon and Bryan Rincon had singles in the inning. Carson DeMartini and Ware recorded walks. Caleb Ricketts became a hero in Reading with one swing, ripping a grand slam off the bottom of the light pole in right field. All told, they scored six runs in the inning and never looked back.
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The Fightins added one in the sixth off an Aroon Escobar triple. In the eighth, DeMartini added the second grand slam of the game, giving the Fightins 13 runs.
Final score: 13-4.
Sam Carlson got the win, pitching a scoreless sixth inning. Wen-Hui Pan pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Estibenzon Jimenez closed out the ninth inning to get the celebrations going.
After the trophy was presented and the champagne started flowing, the entire team hit the right field pool as Eastern League Champions.
