Camargo walks off Game 5 for Iron Fist

A four-run 7th inning gave Hillsborough its first lead of Game 5 on Friday night but Vancouver tied it in the 8th on a Josh Reddick homer and then walked off on a series-ending single from unlikely hero Johan Camargo to win the Game 5 slugfest, 9-8.

With the Game 5 victory, the 3rd-seeded Iron First takes the series, 3-2, to advance to the semi-finals where they will face 2nd-seeded Hopatcong. The win also secures 4th-seeded Tucson as the opponent for top-seeded Sardine City in the other semi-final.

Carlos Santana led off the bottom of the 9th inning of an 8-8 game with a double to left center off Shane Greene, immediately putting the winning run in scoring position. Jonathan Schoop, who's 3rd inning three-run homer put Vancouver up 6-3, grounded to short, bringing up Camargo in his first plate appearance of the series.

The switch-hitting Panamanian, selected in the 9th round this year, entered the game at shortstop in the 8th after Jean Segura had been lifted for pinch-hitter Jake Lamb an inning earlier. Camargo Iron-Fisted a pitch up the middle to score Santana from 2nd base with the game- and series-winning run.

Shane Greene took the loss (0-1) and Jose Alvarado was credited with the win (1-0) after blowing the save in the 7th.

Santana started a critical inning-ending double play in the top of the inning to keep the game tied. Hillsborough decided to pinch-hit for their best hitter, Eddie Rosario, against the lefty Alvarado. Instead, Aaron Hicks led off the 9th, striking out. Alvarado though then walked Miguel Sano and Danny Valencia. Tim Beckham stepped in with two men aboard but came up short, grounding to 1st base where Santana started a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the 9th without a run scoring.

Two innings earlier, the Hit Men got 4 runs across the plate to grab an 8-7 lead. Trevor Rosenthal started the 7th in relief of Luis Castillo. Between strikeouts, Austin Barnes reached on an error by Segura and then Rosario walked. Sano took advantage with a two-out single to score Barnes to make it 7-5. With the tying runs aboard, Hillsborough sent up Alex Presley to pinch-hit for Matt Davidson. Vancouver countered by calling for the lefty Alvarado.

Presley had just 15 at-bats against lefties in the regular season, including just 2 for Hillsborough after getting dealt by Livingston, but managed to poke a single to left, scoring Sano to make it a one-run game. The Hit Men sent up another pinch-hitter, lefty-hiller Kurt Suzuki, to bat for Yangervis Solarte. The Hawaiian-born catcher delivered with a two-run double to right center, giving the Hit Men their first lead of the game, 8-7, and quieting the Vancouver crowd. Suzuki was stranded at second when Byron Buxton grounded out to end the 8th.

The Iron First used long balls early, blasting a pair of three-run homers off starter Jose Berrios. First,  a three-run homer deep to left by Matt Kemp in the 1st gave them an early 3-0 lead. Hillsborough got one run back on a Sano to start the 2nd and then tied it in the top of 3rd when Barnes homered after Buxton's leadoff single. Vancouver grabbed a 3-run lead right back on the bottom of the inning on a three-run blast deep to left center by Schoop, making it 6-3.

When Alex Avila led off the bottom of the 4th with a single, Hillsborough made the call to the bullpen, going to Trevor Hildenberger. Berrios, who had won Game 2, was blasted for 7 runs on 7 hits in just 3 innings, with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.

Vancouver alternated singles and strikeouts off Hildenberger over the next four batters to load the bases with two out, bringing up Anthony Rendon, who led all batters in the 1st round with 10 hits. The Vancouver third baseman stroked a single, scoring Avila, but Rosario came up throwing from left field and nailed Reddick trying to score from 2nd base, to end the inning and keep the score 7-3 after 4 innings.

Another leadoff homer, this time from Mookie Betts to start the 5th, cut the lead again to 3 runs, 7-4. Vancouver starter Luis Castillo issues his only two walks of the game, giving Barnes a free pass before getting two out, but then walking Sano. He came back to strike out Davidson to end 5th without any more damage. Vancouver also would get two men aboard in the 5th after singles by Schoop and Jean Segura before Avila grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In relief of Hildenberger, Erasmo Ramirez had a relatively easy 6th and 7th inning for Hillsborough and now was in line for the win if the score held. He struck out Avila to start the 8th but then Reddick lofted fly ball deep to right center that cleared the wall, tying the game at 8-8 to rock the Iron Dome. Two-out singles by Kemp and Charlie Blackmon put the go-ahead run in scoring position and the outing was over for Ramirez. Shane Greene escaped the 8th by getting Rendon to fly out to right.

Castillo would go 6 innings for Vancouver, yielding 4 runs on 7 hits, with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks.  Rosenthal finished with an odd line: 2/3 inning, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts and 1 walk but 3 unearned runs. Alvarado wasn't exactly a great line but he got the win for going 2 1/3 innings, giving up 3 hits and a run, while walking 2 with 1 strikeout.

Hildenberger was effective in 2 scoreless innings in relief of Berrios despite 5 hits allowed. In 2 2/3 innings, the only mistake by Ramirez was the game-tying homer from Reddick; he gave up 3 hits and a run with 4 strikeouts.

Vancouver lashed 17 hits for 9 runs in the game, the only started without one was Martinez, who went 0-5. They left 11 men on base and had one error. Reddick and Schoop each finished with 3 hits, and Schoop, along with Kemp had a team-high 3 RBI.

Hillsborough had 11 hits and 8 runs but made 3 errors, and left 8 on base. Sano led the team with 3 hits and he, Barnes and Suzuki each had 2 RBI.

In the regular season, Hillsborough won 7 of the 10 meetings. Vancouver outscored Hillsborough 31-30 in the series, batting .294/.360/.461 with 7 HRs, 50 Ks and 19 BBs. Martinez, who led Vancouver in HR (58) and RBI (121) during the regular season, was quiet but others took up the slack, with Schoop (.350/.350/.700) and Kemp () leading the team with 6 RBI. Rendon had 10 hits to lead all batters and had a line of .476/.500/.476. Santana scored a team-high 6 runs, and Reddick (.350/.381/.500) had 7 hits as well.

In the other 1st round series, Tucson never faced a left-handed pitcher (because Marietta didn't have one on its roster) while Vancouver registered but one AB against a lefty (Hillsborough has two on its roster).

Vancouver's Aaron Nola was the best pitcher in the series, recording 24 Ks against just 2 walks in 14 2/3 innings. Iron First pitchers combined for a 5.44 ERA and 1.43 WHIP. By Comparison, Hillsborough pitchers logged a 5.61 ERA and 1.66 WHIP.

The Hit Men blasted 11 home runs, slashing .260/.322/.497 with 60 Ks and 17 BBs. They were led during the regular season by Rosario (40 HR, 123 RBI), who continued that into the playoffs., leading the team in home runs (3), hits (8), runs (7) and tied with Kris Bryant for RBI (5). His line of .533/.632/1.267 led all batters in the 1st round.