Georgia baseball was divided into two teams, a red team and a black team, for its first scrimmage of the fall at Foley Field on Friday. The six-inning game featured six total pitchers, each pitching two innings or until they reached a pitch count. The red team won 8-5.

Rylan Lujo excels at the plate

Sophomore infielder Rylan Lujo reached base on three of his five plate appearances, driving in three runs and scoring three runs for the red team. The Dayton transfer walked on four pitches during his first plate appearance in the opening frame. Freshman outfielder Cole Johnson doubled to right field, and Lujo conservatively stayed at third base. Junior infielder and outfielder Tre Phelps flew out on the next at-bat, and Lujo tagged up to score the game’s first run.

After a groundout that advanced a runner on his second at-bat, Lujo took the first pitch of his third inning at-bat to the left field gap for a go-ahead RBI double. He later scored when Phelps hit a ground-rule double.

Having already contributed greatly to the red team’s lead, Lujo cushioned the advantage with a two-run homer into the left field trees in the fourth inning. It was the only homer of the game. Both the double and home run came off redshirt junior Caleb Jameson.

Jackson Peavy shuts down hitters

While the pitching performances were a mixed bag across the board, no pitcher executed in the scrimmage as well as freshman lefty Jackson Peavy. The Peach County High School graduate from Macon, Georgia, pitched the fifth and sixth innings for the black team. Despite facing a red-hot lineup that scored eight runs in the first four innings, Peavy allowed zero hits, flipping momentum that almost resulted in a dramatic comeback for the black team.

In the fifth inning, Peavy started by striking out highly anticipated two-way transfer Bryce Calloway. He then walked senior infielder Ryan Black, the only runner who would reach base against the southpaw. Peavy forced a flyout from sophomore Henry Allen, and after Black took second base on a wild pitch, he struck out freshman outfielder Ty Peeples to shut the door on the red team.

While the bottom of the sixth inning would not have happened in a real game, since the black team had already lost, it was still played to give Peavy another inning. He sat down three consecutive batters on two flyouts and a groundout.

With both Georgia’s rotation and key bullpen roles still in question, Peavy’s strong performance may have earned the youngster a shot to earn more playing time as the offseason progresses.

Multiple new transfers get their first action

Georgia lost significant talent this offseason, and head coach Wes Johnson was hard at work to recruit new talent to replace these pieces. Out of the Bulldogs’ 21 new transfers, six were listed in Baseball America’s Top 100 players in the transfer portal. Two of those players, Calloway and junior pitcher Dylan Vigue, as well as many other promising newcomers, were featured in the scrimmage.

Vigue pitched the first two innings for the red team. He looked dominant in the first inning, striking out one batter and forcing two groundouts with just one walk allowed.

The Michigan transfer showed control issues, however, when he took the mound again for the second inning. After walking two batters and allowing a single, Vigue walked his third batter of the inning, fellow transfer Kenny Ishikawa, for his first earned run.

He then allowed a hit into the left-field gap from senior shortstop Kolby Branch. While a base-running miscue caused the hit to just be a single, two runs scored. Vigue showed his discipline as he battled back to record two consecutive outs and strand two runners.

Calloway struck out twice, but showed off his plate discipline and smooth swing. He walked on his first at bat and had a hard-hit two-run single off of fellow transfer Brad Pruett, which tied the game 3-3. Calloway did not pitch during the scrimmage, but Wes Johnson said he plans to deploy him as both a hitter and pitcher during the season.

Ishikawa is another newcomer that plays both ways but only hit in the scrimmage. The Japan native was patient at the plate, walking twice. He also hit a lead-off double in the sixth inning and used his awareness to advance to third base on an errant throw.

Many promising transfers, including pitchers Caden Aoki, Matt Scott and Joey Volchko are very much in Georgia’s plans and will face Bulldog hitters over the next few months as the team prepares for the new season.

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