Home run heroics and another shutout win highlight exciting final home series as IronBirds split with BlueClaws

Home run heroics and another shutout win highlight exciting final home series as IronBirds split with BlueClaws

By: Michael Marcantonini

The Aberdeen IronBirds wrapped up their 12-game homestand with a series split against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws this past week at Ripken Stadium. The IronBirds won the first two games, the Blue Claws bounced back to win the next two, then the two teams split the final two of the series. Over their three home series in August, the IronBirds earned two series wins and one split, and they ended August with a 15-12 record.

The IronBirds turned in their best pitching performance of the week in Game 1, when Wellington Aracena (4.0 IP), Christian Herberholz (1.0 IP), Zane Barnhart (2.0 IP), Ryan Cabarcas (1.0 IP) and Chandler Marsh (1.0) combined for the eighth shutout win of the season in a 4-0 victory. Victor Figueroa paced the Birds’ offense with a 2-run single and a triple, while Nate George and Edwin Amparo each had two hits. The IronBirds stayed hot with a 4-3 comeback win in Game 2. Aberdeen trailed by a pair of runs in the third, when Amparo ripped a game-tying, two-run double and George followed with a sacrifice fly for the lead. The Birds’ bullpen tossed six innings of one-run ball, with Tanner Smith leading the way. Smith got the Birds out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth with a strikeout, then struck out the side in order in the ninth.

The BlueClaws rallied with a run in the eighth and ninth for a 4-3 win in Game 3 to end the IronBirds’ four-game winning streak. But the IronBirds’ pitching stayed hot as Yeiber Cartaya (4.0 IP) and Michael Caldon (5.0 IP) combined for 12 strikeouts and only two walks in the loss. Jersey Shore won again in Game 4, this time 10-7, in the highest-scoring game of the series. The IronBirds trailed 10-4 after seven innings, but rallied to bring the winning run to the plate in the ninth, before they fell just short. Thomas Sosa had two hits and two RBI, Figueroa stayed hot with a double, an RBI and two walks, Ryan Stafford added two hits, and Maikol Hernandez had two RBI, as all nine Aberdeen starters reached base safely.

The IronBirds flipped the script on the series and completed a comeback in their 8-5 win in Game 5. The Birds were down 4-2 in the fifth when George smoked a game-tying, two-run home run to right field for his first High-A homer. After going down 5-4 in the sixth, that set the scene for another big rally in the seventh. Elis Cuevas smacked a game-tying, RBI double into the right field corner and the next batter, Amparo, crushed a towering go-ahead, two-run home run to right, and the Birds held on for the win. Jersey Shore spoiled Aberdeen’s chance at a series victory the next day as the Claws grabbed a 6-0 win in Game 6. The IronBirds had only six hits, and just one for extra bases. Ben Vespi and Jacob Cravey each threw one and one-third scoreless innings, and Cravey collected four strikeouts.

The IronBirds close out their 2025 season with a six-game road series against the Wilmington Blue Rocks from today through Sunday, September 2-7.