Tortugas are Kings of the North

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - The Daytona Tortugas had just one hit and trailed 3-0 after six on Thursday night before Tyler Stephenson led off the seventh inning with a bloop single, and scored on an Ibandel Isabel two-run home run to cut the deficit to one. Then in the eighth, the Tortugas sent eight to the plate and scored three times to take a 5-3 lead into the ninth, where RHP Ryan Hendrix put the finishing touches on the evening with final inning at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
A two-out, 370 foot solo blast from Edgar Cabral put the Threshers on the board in the top of the second.
In the fifth, a two-out double from Daniel Brito ran the Thresher lead to 2-0.
In the sixth, Grenny Cumana's third hit of the night led to Threshers third run.
Isabel's 377 foot two-run home run two batters into the seventh off RHP Mauricio Llovera cut the deficit to 3-2. The Tortugas loaded the bases up with one-out, but LHP Jakob Hernandez ended the threat.
The Tortugas tied the score and took the lead in the eighth off RHP Trevor Bettencourt. Courtney Hawkins ripped a double down the left field line to lead-off the inning, then moved to third on a Stephenson single. Hawkins scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
Stephenson moved to second on the wild pitch, and was pinch-run for by Michael Beltre. Beltre moved to third on a past ball, then scored the go-ahead run when Bruce Yari doubled down the right field line. Yari moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored after Randy Ventura reached first with an infield single to round out the scoring at 5-3.
In his 2018 Tortuga debut, RHP Austin Orewiler allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 ⅔ innings with a walk and four strikeouts. The Daytona bullpen followed that up by pitching 3 ⅓ perfect innings in relief. LHP Ty Boyles struck out all four batters he faced. In the eighth, LHP Carlos Diaz (1-1) struck out one, then in the ninth, Hendrix closed it out.
Diaz earned his first postseason win and Hendrix earned his second save of the playoffs. Bettencourt suffered his second blown save and first loss. In ⅔ of an inning, he allowed three runs on four hits with a strikeout.
The Tortugas will begin a best-of-five game series with the Fort Myers Miracle on Friday night. Games one and two will be on the road, before the Tortugas return to The Jack on Sunday.
LHP Packy Naughton will make his Tortuga debut tomorrow night in the opener. Fort Myers will counter with LHP Charlie Barnes.
First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:00 PM with coverage beginning at 6:50 PM with the Metcare Pregame Show on AM 1230, AM 1490, and FM 106.9 WSBB.
NOTES: The Tortugas used all 12 of their available position players tonight… The Daytona bullpen finished the series with a 0.75 ERA (1 earned run in 12 innings)... The Tortugas improve to 2-0 in elimination games and 4-13 in series deciding games… Daytona improves to 8-49 when trailing after 6, 6-42 when trailing after 7, and 47-1 when leading after 8. Randy Ventura and Tyler Stephenson both recorded multi-hit games… Bruce Yari's game-winning double and Ibandel Isabel's two-run home run were their first hits of the playoffs.