Orioles Top 100 Prospect Hits Game-Winning Home Run Vs. Red Sox

It took the Baltimore Orioles just one game to have a walk-off game-winning home run in spring training and it came courtesy of one of their top prospects.

Outfielder Colton Cowser, who made his MLB debut last season and is the No. 19 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, did the honors in the bottom of the ninth against the Boston Red Sox in the Orioles’ home debut in Sarasota, Fla.

Down 3-2 with a runner on second base and no one out, the left-handed hitting Cowser unloaded on a 1-1 pitch and sent it into the alley in left-center field to end the game.

It was his first spring training home run and he was met at home plate by several of his teammates to celebration. Most of the sellout crowd at Ed Smith Stadium.

"I know how the wind plays at this place sometimes, and I know if you get something up in the air that's barreled a little bit to left, then you've always got a chance," Cowser said to reporters after the game.

Cowser is pushing for more playing time at the Major League level after getting a taste of it last season.

Cowser batted just .115 in 26 games with the O’s. He was their first-round pick 2021 out of Sam Houston. In three minor-league seasons he is a .298 hitter with 38 home runs and 168 RBI.

There are three veterans already slated to start in the outfield — Austin Hays, Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins. Cowser could be waiting at least another year for meaningful playing time as he and another Top 100 prospect, outfielder Heston Kjerstad, are knocking on the door of full-time jobs.

The pair are two of six Top 100 prospects the Orioles have in their Major League camp. That includes their No. 1 overall prospect, shortstop Jackson Holliday, who also played on Saturday. The rest of the prospects are catcher Samuel Basallo, corner infielder Coby Mayo and infielder Joey Ortiz (No. 63).