L.J. Mazzilli was signed by the Mets in the 4th round of the 2013 June Amateur draft and in a very short time he has found himself playing with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s.
Mazzilli starred with the Brooklyn Cyclones in his first season of pro baseball in 2013 and batted .278 with four home runs and 34 RBIs.
In 2014, the Mets moved him first to Class-A Savannah where in 66 games he batted .292 with seven home runs and 45 RBI’s, then onto Advanced-A St. Lucie where in 64 games he batted .312 with four home runs and 34 RBI’s. But the Mets were not done moving Mazzilli, as he earned himself a promotion to Las Vegas on Monday where he’ll get a chance to help the 51s win a championship.
Well it didn’t take long for Mazzilli to make his mark, as he singled in the bottom of the eighth inning at Cashman Field to put the 51s in the lead for good. After a 1-2-3 ninth, Wally Backman and his team walked away with a well earned victory on Wednesday night, to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Vegas found themselves down early 3-0, with Rafael Montero on the mound, but they clawed back in it on a home run by Cory Vaughn and an RBI single by Cesar Puello in the bottom of the fifth and a solo shot by Kevin Plawecki in the sixth to tie the game.
In the seventh Brandon Allen hit an RBI single scoring Matt Reynolds to put the 51s up 4-3. But after a sac fl by Reno’s Roger Kieschnick in the top of the eighth tied the game at 4-4, the bottom of the eighth was left to Mazzilli’s heroics.
Las Vegas takes the field against Reno at Cashman Field on Thursday night for Game Two of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm with Matthew Bowman (3-2, 3.47) facing off against Andrew Chafin (5-6, 5.34).
