Three Walk-Offs, One Dream: Friars Head to the Finals

Sammy Linedriv - TABL Beat Writer Baseball has a funny way of circling back to the improbable. One moment you’re watching a lead unravel pitch by pitch; the next, you’re watching a bat flip under the stadium lights, a roar rising from the crowd like thunder breaking over the bay.

On a night when nothing came easy, the San Diego Friars punched their ticket to the National Conference Championship Series, and did it, once again, with a walk-off home run.

Mike Yastrzemski was the latest to wear the cape. Bottom of the 10th, one out, a runner on first, and the Friars trailing by one. Miami closer David Bednar delivered a first-pitch fastball, and Yaz didn’t miss. The ball left his bat like it had somewhere to be, landing deep in the right-field seats. Petco Park exploded. San Diego 8, Miami 7, ballgame.

That it even came to that point felt like fate teasing both sides. The Friars looked ready to cruise early, jumping ahead 6–1 after Carlos Correa’s three-run homer in the second and a wild sequence in the fourth that saw two runs score on a Perdomo error. But Miami refused to fade.

Victor Caratini, who seemed to have a magnet in his bat all series, hit a solo homer in the third and later doubled home another. Christian Walker kept his team within striking distance with two more home runs, one in the sixth, one in the eighth, pulling the Hawks to within a single run.

By the ninth, the game had turned from comfort to concern. Closer Raisel Iglesias, rarely used beyond three outs, came on to finish it. He retired the first two hitters, but Corey Seager doubled, and José Ramírez, the captain, the heartbeat, lined a single to tie the game at six.

The Friars’ lead was gone. The energy drained. And yet, they found a way again.

Nick Castellanos, hitless for much of the series, stunned the crowd in the top of the 10th with a solo homer off Iglesias to put Miami up 7–6. It could’ve been the dagger. Instead, it set the stage.

Robles grounded out. Paredes walked. And then Yaz, the son of a legend, now writing his own October script, turned the game, and the series, into another piece of San Diego lore.

It was their third walk-off home run of the series, a statistic that sounds impossible until you remember how this team plays. Calm, connected, and never quite convinced they’re out of it.

Zac Gallen’s earlier gem in Game 5 steadied the Friars. Iglesias, shaky but unbroken, earned the win. The box score tells one story; the noise from Petco told another.

The Friars now move on to face the San Francisco Bays in what promises to be a heavyweight clash, two teams built on resilience, both fresh off Game 6 triumphs.

For the Hawks, it’s heartbreak, but a season that ends with pride. For San Diego, it’s celebration, disbelief, and a night that will echo long after the lights go out.

W – Iglesias (1–0)

L – Bednar (0–1)

SV – None

HR – Caratini (MIA), Walker 2 (MIA), Correa, Yastrzemski, Bellinger, Hernández (SD)