Reed shines in Cats' scrimmage

A.J. Reed, a consensus freshman All-America honoree last season, homered and doubled in Kentucky's intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday.

A.J. Reed, a consensus freshman All-America honoree last season, homered and doubled to lead the Black squad to a 3-1 win over the Blue in Kentucky's intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

The Terre Haute, Ind., native opened the scoring with a mammoth homer over the left-field fence in the first inning. In the sixth inning, Reed again launched a laser to centerfield, smashing a double off the top of the wall.

Reed, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound lefty, starred in the Cape Cod League during the summer. The two-way player owned a 3-0 record and a 2.21 ERA in seven starts as a pitcher, with 38 strikeouts and only seven walks in 36.2 innings.

Black also got offensive contributions from Zac Zellers (1-for-3), Max Kuhn (1-for-2, RBI sacrifice fly), Matt Reida (1-for-3), Greg Fettes (1-for-2) and Thomas Weaver (1-for-2).

On the mound, Black started senior southpaw Jerad Grundy, who worked two innings with two strikeouts. Matt Pope – a 6-foot-8 freshman righty – worked two shutout innings in relief with freshman Ryne Combs tossing a shutout final frame.

The Blue squad was led at the plate by hits from J.T. Riddle (1-for-1, HBP), Jeff Boehm (1-for-2), Micheal Thomas (1-for-2) and Jacob Russell (1-for-2).

Blue started sophomore right-hander Taylor Martin, who pitched two innings and allowed two runs. Freshman lefty Dylan Dwyer pitched two frames with one run and three strikeouts. Freshman Kyle Cody – another 6-foot-8 righty – worked a shutout frame and senior Walter Wijas also pitched a shutout final inning.

UK will scrimmage three more times on the week, weather permitting. The team will play Friday at 2 p.m. ET, Saturday at 12:15 p.m. ET and on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET. The scrimmage on Saturday will conclude with a parent’s day luncheon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.