Phillies Prospect Watch: Fightin Phils Win Eastern League Championship

The Phillies 2026 minor league season came to a close on Tuesday, Sept. 22, with Double-A Reading winning their first Eastern League championship since 1995 — the Fightin Phils also won a share of the 2001 title after the end of the minor league season was cancelled as a result of the September 11 attacks.

Reading won 13-4, coming from behind with a six-run sixth inning. Dante Nori (3-for-5), Aidan Miller (2-for-4 with a double and a walk) and Raylin Heredia singled to lead off the frame; Carson DeMartini (1-for-3 with a homer, two walks and a steal) plated the tying run with a free pass, and catcher Caleb Ricketts (2-for-4) crushed a grand slam to right that gave the Fightin Phils a lead they never relinquished. 

Manager Al Pedrique had to scramble to organize his pitching staff with Phillies 2025 first round pick Gage Wood on the Development List to end the year. Starting pitcher and Penn grad Ryan Dromboski got chased from the game after giving up two runs in 1.1 innings; Jack Dallas covered 2.2 frames, setting up Evan Gates to enter for the fifth. With two outs and a runner on third, Pedrique went to left-handed standout Mavis Graves, but a Miller error allowed the go-ahead run to cross, setting the stage for Ricketts’ heroics. 

Sam Carlson earned the win after pitching a scoreless sixth, while Wen-Hui Pan fanned three batters across two perfect innings as the Fightin Phils’ offense piled on.