LEXINGTON, Ky. — A solo homer from sophomore catcher Luke Maile and two shutout innings in relief from each Braden Kapteyn and Nick Kennedy highlighted a Kentucky baseball intrasquad scrimmage held during UK’s annual fall MLB scout day, on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
UK was split into two squads for the scrimmage, consisting of blue and black teams for the five-inning scrimmage, won with a 2-1 score. With approximately 40 professional baseball scouts in attendance, UK used a total of seven 2011 MLB Draft-eligible pitchers in the abbreviated contest.
Kapteyn, a junior right-handed reliever and first baseman, picked up the win with scoreless innings in the second and third, striking out three in two innings, allowing only one hit and notching one pickoff of UK sophomore catcher Jordan Williams. During the summer, Kapteyn, a native of Lansing, Ill., was named a prestigious Cape Cod League All-Star, pitching in the game held at Fenway Park.
Kennedy, a native of Los Angeles, Calif., was also good in relief, hurling two shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out two. Southpaw reliever Mike Kaczmarek picked up the save by tossing the bottom of the fifth, striking out two and getting a groundout to end the scrimmage. Junior right-hander Alex Meyer, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound native of Greensburg, Ind., was saddled with the loss, allowing one run in one inning of work, notching one strikeout and allowing one hit. Junior right-handed submariner Sean Kelly also pitched a scoreless frame, allowing two hits.
Offensively, Maile highlighted the game with his solo blast off black team starter Jordan Cooper, who tossed two innings and allowed two hits with one strikeout. As a true freshman in 2010, Maile, the 2009 Kentucky High School Mr. Baseball, made 12 starts and hit three homers. In 2010, Cooper solidified himself as a member of UK’s weekend rotation, making 20 appearances with eight starts.
Two of UK’s top-of-the-order hitters collected singles off blue team starter Alex Phillips, including consecutive singles from leadoff hitter Neiko Johnson and No. 2 hitter Taylor Black. Johnson and Black then each collected stolen bases on a double steal, with Johnson scoring on Chad Wright’s RBI groundout to second base. In 2010, Johnson stole 24 bases in 21 starts and Black swiped 12-of-12 bases, helping UK lead the Southeastern Conference with 120 stolen bases.
UK also got hits from freshmen Lucas Witt, Thomas Bernal and 2010 Kentucky Mr. Baseball J.T. Riddle. In addition, junior third baseman Thomas McCarthy and junior catcher Michael Williams added singles, along with Kaczmarek, who laced an opposite-field single down the leftfield line. Kaczmarek has been playing both ways for the Wildcats in the fall, functioning as an extra left-handed hitting outfielder. Witt, a native of Lexington, Ky., added an RBI on his base hit.
