Stallions Crowned PGCBL Champs After Surviving 17-Inning Marathon
BATAVIA, N.Y. – The Saugerties Stallions emerged from a dramatic, exhausting and pressure-filled 17-inning game on Sunday afternoon at Dwyer Stadium to win the 2025 PGCBL championship, their second title in franchise history.
Saugerties scored five runs in the top of the 17th inning to break a 5-5 tie and defeated the Batavia Muckdogs 10-6, completing the sweep of the #1 seed in the West.
The #2 seed and East champions, Saugerties won the opening game of the Championship Series 9-2 on Saturday evening at Cantine Field. They needed to win just one of two potential games at Batavia on Sunday to claim their second PGCBL championship.
As it turned out, they needed nearly two games worth of innings, but still came out with a 2-0 series win.
The bullpen was phenomenal for the Stallions in Sunday's instant classic. John Hacker, who was named MVP of the Championship Series, pitched eight innings of brilliant scoreless relief, coming on in the fourth inning and allowing just five hits and no walks while striking out five, keeping the game knotted at 5 into the 11th inning.
Mason Weaver built on that outing and pitched the 12th through the 16th innings without giving up a run, while Matthew Murtagh slammed the door over the final two innings.
Not to be outdone, Batavia's Garrett Beaver gave up just one hit over six scoreless innings with six strikeouts to make sure the Muckdogs kept pace.
Dylan Passo had three hits and Casey Cumiskey went 4-7, with two of the biggest hits of the game. With two outs in the top of the eighth and Saugerties having trailed 5-3 since the fourth inning, Cumiskey smacked a two-run single to tie the game at five.
The teams matched zeros on the scoreboard for the next eight innings until a one-out double by Cumiskey finally put a runner in scoring position. Brandon Fish followed with an RBI single that broke the deadlock and opened the door to Saugerties' big 17th inning.
On Saturday night in Saugerties, Adonis Medina had two hits, including a three-run homer, as the Stallions scored four times in the second to take a 4-2 lead and never looked back. Virgil Heath went eight and a third innings of two-run baseball to earn the victory and put the Stallions on the precipice of their first league championship since 2021.