Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Tocci caps IronPigs' comeback with walk-off

Phillies No. 24 prospect rips game-winning single in 12th inning
Carlos Tocci hit .294 in 130 Minor League games across two levels this season. (Cheryl Pursell/Lehigh Valley IronPigs)
September 7, 2017

After a wild comeback and nearly four hours of baseball, Carlos Tocci put the exclamation point on Triple-A Lehigh Valley's night.Philadelphia's No. 24 prospect smacked a walk-off single in the 12th inning to push the IronPigs past Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 6-5, in Game 1 of the best-of-5 International League semifinals Thursday night

After a wild comeback and nearly four hours of baseball, Carlos Tocci put the exclamation point on Triple-A Lehigh Valley's night.
Philadelphia's No. 24 prospect smacked a walk-off single in the 12th inning to push the IronPigs past Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 6-5, in Game 1 of the best-of-5 International League semifinals Thursday night at Coca-Cola Park.

Tocci came to the plate against right-hander Tyler Jones -- who replaced J.P. Feyereisen (0-1) earlier in the 12th -- with one out and the bases loaded. The native of Venezuela lofted the first pitch into right field to plate Angelo Mora with the winning run. 
"Oh my [gosh], unbelievable feeling," Tocci said. "I was looking for something up and put the ball in play."
Box score
The rest of the IronPigs swarmed the 22-year-old outfielder on the field.
"After a long game, they threw the water [on me] and everybody was happy, obviously," Tocci said.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre built a 5-1 lead through five innings against Lehigh Valley starter Drew Anderson, the Phillies' No. 23 prospect.
But Lehigh Valley rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Mitch Walding, Mora and 10th-ranked Dylan Cozens smacked RBI singles and Andrew Pullin tied the score with a sacrifice fly.
Complete playoff coverage
"I think it was a great comeback for us and will help us to win the rest of the series," said Tocci, who batted .189 in 17 games with the IronPigs after posting a .307 average in 113 games with Double-A Reading. The 6-foot-2, 160-pounder also doubled to left to lead off the third and singled to right in the 11th.

Philadelphia's No. 3 prospect Scott Kingery also collected three hits and drove in a run, while Pat Venditte (1-0) struck out one in a perfect inning to claim the win.
Sixth-ranked Yankees prospectMiguel Andújar belted a solo homer for the RailRiders and No. 24 Billy McKinney smacked a two-run shot. Donovan Solano finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

The series stays in Lehigh Valley for Game 2, scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on Friday, 
In other IL playoff action:
Bulls 2, Indians 0
Rays No. 5 prospectJake Bauers went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs while No. 19 Yonny Chirinos (1-0) yielded seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts over seven innings. Durham has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series with Game 3 slated for 7:15 p.m. ET Friday in Indianapolis. Box score

Alex Kraft is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and chat with him on Twitter @Alex_Kraft21.