Baseball: Camardo's clout lifts Buffalo Grove past Libertyville

Buffalo Grove ordered up another Big Mac and got special surprise.

Mac Camardo hit the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the eighth inning and sent it flying over the wall for a 3-run walk-off homer to lift the Bison past Libertyville 11-10 in the sectional final at St. Viator on Saturday in Arlington Heights.

The win moved Buffalo Grove (30-5) into Monday's Class 4A supersectional at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg at 7:30 p.m. The Bison will play Lake Park, a 6-0 winner over Willowbrook on Saturday in the Bartlett sectional.

Camardo had uncharacteristically struggled at the plate Saturday. The 6-foot-6 first baseman had struck out his first three times before walking in the seventh inning.

"I had an awful day at the plate," said Camardo, who came to the plate in the eighth inning with one out, his team trailing 10-8 and runners on first and second. "I knew as soon as they switched pitchers I had a chance. I was thinking first pitch. I just had a weird feeling. I was looking for that pitch to drive and I knew I would get it."

Pandemonium broke out on the the Buffalo Grove side - again.

It has been key for Buffalo Grove to have been awarded the top seed in the sectional. That earned them the last at-bats through the postseason, and it has paid huge dividends.

This was the third consecutive walk-off win for the Bison. It was also the second game in a row that Buffalo Grove had to rally from a deficit to win.

"I think our guys just like to see me riled up," Buffalo Grove coach Tim Miller said. "We just keep battling. The saying for our program is 'We are one.' We stay united and fight until the end."

The game was a wild one.

Because of pitching rules and an injury, both teams were without their top two starting pitchers and used a combined eight pitchers on the bump. The wind was blowing out, and the teams combined for 29 hits, including 7 home runs.

"We hit just 13 homers all season coming into this game," Miller said. "I don't like games like this. But as long as we keep winning, I'll take it."

The Bison trailed 8-3 with two outs in the sixth inning before they put up runs on the scoreboard. To begin the comeback, pinch hitter Alex Paul got things started with a 2-run single to make it 8-5.

"We told our guys if we could cut the lead in half, we would give ourselves a shot," Miller said. "We did cut it half and gave ourselves and opportunity."

In the seventh, Riley Rundquist, who had 3 hits and reached base 5 times, drilled a long homer to left-center to make it 8-6.

"I just wanted get things going," said Rundquist, who has 6 homers this spring. "We were down, but we never lost hope. We came back. In the top of the eighth, they scored 2. We knew we had to score anyway, so why not make it 3?"

After a walk to Camardo, Rio Komatani, who'd hit just 1 home run in his life, doubled his pleasure. His long fly to right just drifted over the right field fence to tie the game at 8-8 and send the BG fans into a frenzy.

"I saw an inside pitch and I wanted to try to hit something out, " Komatani said. "I saw the center fielder was right at the fence and I finally I saw that he didn't have the ball."

Buffalo Grove had chance to win it in regulation. But with runners on first and second, Libertyville turned a sweet 5-3 double play that energized that Wildcats.

Griffin Murphy, who had belted 2 homers earlier in the game and drove in 3 runs, slashed a one-out single. Tim Jean followed with a no-doubter to right field for a 2-run homer and Libertyville was back on top 10-8.

"It was a crazy game," Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said. "Back and forth at the end. It was tough."

But last raps mean everything to Buffalo Grove.

Zach Fricke, who had 3 hits, singled to center. After a pitching change, Rundquist was hit by a pitch. Libertyville went to its bullpen again for its fifth hurler of the game. It lasted just one pitch before Camardo hit his fourth homer of the year.

"As soon as I hit, I knew right away," said Camardo, who had the winning walk-off hit in Thursday's sectional win over Warren. "It was right in my wheelhouse and I took it. This team is amazing. It is so much fun."

Carter Gledhill, hit a 3-run wind-blown homer in the first inning to give Buffalo Grove an early 3-1 lead.

"If that did not set the tone for a wild game, then I don't know what did," Gledhill said. "I didn't even see it go over. It set the tone for the wackiest home run derby game ever."

Libertyville got some longball hitting of its own to surge ahead 8-3. Along with Murphy's 2 homers, Tanner Kelly had 3 hits and 2 RBI while Ben Arnold had 2 hits and Tommy Rigali, Derek Calamari and Andrew Kim each had an RBI.

It was a tough way for Libertyville (28-10) to end a very successful season.

"Our goal all year was to go downstate," Thompson said. "And we just came up a little short. They worked hard every day. They were a great group. Obviously today hurts, but they can look back and say it was a great season."