FROM PRESS RELEASE
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Kentrail Davis’ two-run home run sparked a five-run fifth inning as the USA Baseball National Trials Blue Team edged the National Trials White Team 6-4 in a seven-inning intrasquad game Saturday night at Capital City Stadium. This was the first of two intrasquads during the trials period.
After Mike Leake (Arizona State; Fallbrook, Calif.) drew a two-out walk, Davis (Tennessee; Theodore, Ala.) fouled off two pitches before driving a pitch over the 15-foot fence in left-center. It was the fifth home run of the National Team Trials for Davis.
The Blue Team added three more runs in the inning on two hits, two walks, a pair of White Team errors and a wild pitch. Dusty Coleman (Wichita State; Sioux City, S.D.) had the only RBI in the frame after Davis’ home run; Coleman singled to right, scoring Tommy Medica (Santa Clara; San Jose, Calif.).
That made a winner of Blue Team starter Bryan Morgado (Tennessee; Miami, Fla.), who allowed three runs on three hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in a predetermined 4.0-inning outing. Mike Minor (Vanderbilt; Chapel Hill, Tenn.) worked a scoreless fifth, allowing a hit with two strikeouts. Brett Hunter (Pepperdine; Moorpark, Calif.) retired the side in order in the sixth with one strikeout. Coleman allowed a run on two hits with one strikeout in the seventh to earn the save.
Chance Ruffin (Texas; Austin, Texas), the first of three relievers on the night for the White Team, allowed all five runs in the fifth inning and was saddled with the loss. Four of the five runs were earned. Starter Brooks Raley (Texas A&M; Uvalde, Texas) scattered three hits and a walk with one strikeout over 4.0 scoreless innings.
Josh Phegley (Indiana; Terre Haute, Ind.) gave the White Team a 1-0 lead with his first-inning sacrifice fly. Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina; Markie, Ind.), who is playing with the National Trials Team this weekend while attending summer school, pushed that lead to 3-0 with a two-run homer in the fourth.
After the five-run fifth, the Blue Team added an unearned run in the top of the seventh. The White Team got a run in the bottom of the seventh when Blake Smith (California; Modesto, Calif.) doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Matt den Dekker (Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) infield single.
den Dekker produced the game’s only three-hit outing, going 3-for-3 with a walk, a double and an RBI. Woodward was 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored. Medica was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
The National Trials Team returns to non-scrimmage competition Sunday when it faces the Columbia Blowfish of the Coastal Plain League. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. EDT at Capital City Stadium.
