Jays' Berti homers in final Fall League game
Prospect goes 3-for-5 with three RBIs, two runs scored for Mesa in tie game
MESA, Ariz. -- Blue Jays prospect Jon Berti would have liked to give Mesa its second walk-off victory in consecutive days, but it was not meant to be.
With one out and the winning run in scoring position, Berti drew a walk to extend the game, but Glendale and Mesa ultimately played to a 4-4 tie in Thursday's Arizona Fall League finale.
Although Berti wasn't able to win the game, he did leave his mark on it as he went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
"Would have been nice to put a finish there, but I was just sticking to my approach," Berti said. "It was a good day."
Berti, an 18th-round Draft selection in 2011, highlighted the AFL finale with a three-run homer to left in the third inning.
"Got to 3-0, he made a couple nice pitches to get it back to 3-2 and he threw me something I could put a good swing on and fortunately, I did," Berti said.
In 136 games with Double-A New Hampshire, Berti hit .270, but after a strong finish he concluded the AFL hitting .292.
Berti drove in three of Mesa's runs and although he drove himself in once with the homer, he needed a bit of help scoring the second time around.
In the fifth inning Berti reached base with his second hit of the day -- a single -- and scored when Cubs prospect Dan Vogelbach drove a double to deep right center field.
Vogelbach, the Cubs' No. 10 prospect according to MLBpipeline.com and a second-round selection in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, finished his Fall League season on a five game hitting streak -- three of which were multi-hit games.
Despite the disappointment of failing to reach Saturday's championship game, Berti enjoyed his stint in the AFL and believes it helped him improve as a player.
"It was good, it was a lot of fun," Berti said. "Team played really well. Obviously we would have liked to have been playing in that championship game on Saturday, but it was a lot of fun, enjoyed it."
Now that the AFL has concluded, Berti will step away from the game for a little bit, but it won't be long until he's back at it getting ready for Spring Training.
"Catch up on a little rest and then back at it," Berti said. "Can't take too much time off."