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Mancini plates four in Carolina League debut

Fresh off Sally League All-Star Game, Orioles prospect makes splash
June 20, 2014

There's nothing like a good first impression, but a great second impression never hurt anyone either.

At least that was the case for Orioles prospect Trey Mancini, who doubled in his first Carolina League plate appearance and homered in his second one Thursday.

The 22-year-old first baseman finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Ultimately, though, his Class A Advanced Frederick Keys fell, 11-10, to the Mudcats at Carolina.

It was Mancini's first game since the South Atlantic Leage All-Star Game, which ended in a 4-4 tie, on Tuesday. In that contest, the Notre Dame product whacked an RBI single to pull the North even in the bottom of the 10th inning.

"I'm glad we could get the tie at least. It was pretty exciting. The crowd was really into it," Mancini said. "On the 2-1 pitch I swung about as hard as I could. I guess I wanted to end it," he added. "Then [Robert Coles of the Savannah Sand Gnats] threw me a curveball … and I got it in a good place."

On Thursday, he faced Carolina's Cole Sulser with one out in the first inning and lined a double to left field that scored Mike Yastrzemski.

With Yastrzemski on first and Glynn Davis on third with two outs in the second, Mancini stepped in against Sulser again. He swatted the 1-1 offering over the wall in left.

Sulser struck Mancini out to end the fourth, and Mancini grounded out to reliever Rob Nixon in the sixth and to Mudcats shortstop and 11th-ranked Indians prospect Erik Gonzalez in the eighth.

Joe Sever had four hits for the Mudcats, and his leadoff single in the ninth set him up to score the tying run. Todd Hankins went 3-for-6 with a run scored and two RBIs. He socked the walk-off hit for Carolina.

Josh Jackson is a contributor to MiLB.com.