Carolina Mudcats win home opener and Clayton’s Evan Phillips finishes
Carolina Mudcats reliever Evan Phillips added a homecoming flavor to the organization’s 26th season opener at Five County Stadium.
The Mudcats manufactured one run in the first, added two in second on one hit and Phillips, a Clayton High grad, picked up the save in a 3-2 victory over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Thursday night before 2,452 fans in the Class A Carolina League game.
Phillips, a 17th-round draft pick in 2015 out of UNC Wilmington making his Five County Stadium debut, tossed 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth. He faced the Nos. 2-3-4 batters in the ninth, striking out the final two.
“I knew my family was in the stands and I wanted to do well for them,” said Phillips, who grew up attending Mudcats games. “I was mixing my four-seam and two-seam fastballs. My two-seam had some good movement.”
Carolina improved to 5-3 after winning four of its first seven games on the road. The road wins for the Atlanta Braves’ affiliate were fueled by hitting, but veteran manager Rocky Wheeler, in his first season with the Mudcats, has been touting his team’s speed and base-running that was on display against the Pelicans (3-5).
Keith Curcio and Omar Obregon walked to open the first. Curcio went to third on Dansby Swanson’s deep fly ball to right field and then came home on a Jordan Edgerton’s fielder’s choiceto second base.
In the second, Ryan Gebhardt walked and was safe at second on a throwing error on Tanner Murphy’s ground ball. Murphy was safe, too, but he was erased on another grounder by Joseph Daris that left Daris on first. Daris stole second and Gebhardt and Daris both came home on Curcio’s two-out single to right field.
“Batting in the ninth hole my job is to get on, use my speed and let the guys behind me drive me in,” said Daris, whose father Dan, the principal at El Camino High in Oceanside, Calif., was in attendance. “We’ve got a lot of speed in the team. Our mentality is to put pressure on them to make them make plays on us.”
Notes
▪ Max Povse of Cary’s Green Hope High will starts Friday’s second game of the series in his Mudcats debut. A 6-foot-8, 220-pound right-hander, he pitched six innings with seven strikeouts with no-decision in a 5-0, 11-inning win Sunday at Salem. Povse was a third-round pick by the Braves in 2014 out of UNC Greensboro.
▪ The Mudcats feature five of the Braves’ top 30 prospects, according to MLBpipline.com. Shortstop Swanson is No. 1, outfielder Braxton Davidson No. 15, right-handed pitcher Zack Bird No. 17, Povse No. 26 and right-handed pitcher Wes Parsons No. 29.
▪ The Pelicans’ Shawon Dunston Jr., son of the former Chicago Cubs shortstop, played left field. Dunston walked and stole a base and was 0-of-3. He struck out twice, once with a runner on third and two outs. But he made two nice defensive plays on foul balls, snaring one as he was up against the side wall and another despite slipping on the bullpen mound as he tracked the ball.
▪ Wheeler’s pregame talk to his young team emphasized the significance of a minor league home opener.
“Even though you’ve already played a season opener, you still get excited for a home opener,” Wheeler said. “A home opener is when you’ll meet your new fans and make some new friends during the season. A kid with latch on to a player and a player will latch on to a kid. The friends might have you over for dinner. They’ll come see you when you make the Major Leagues, but then you have to take them out to dinner.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 11:25 PM with the headline "Carolina Mudcats win home opener and Clayton’s Evan Phillips finishes."