Sports · · 3 min read
Long Island Ducks sweep Blue Crabs for 2026 title
Long Island secured its fifth Atlantic League championship by beating Southern Maryland 7-2 and completing a three-game sweep.
The Long Island Ducks are the 2026 Atlantic League champions after defeating the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 7-2 on Friday night at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, New York, according to liducks.com. The victory completed a three-game sweep in the best-of-five Championship Series and gave Long Island its fifth league title.
The championship adds to the franchise’s previous victories in 2004, 2012, 2013 and 2019. Long Island also finished this season with the Atlantic League’s best regular-season win total, taking 80 games. The Ducks won the Second Half North Division title with a 43-20 record, then swept the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars in the North Division Championship Series.
Their postseason run ended with six victories and no defeats. With five championships, Long Island is tied for the second-highest total in Atlantic League history.
Ducks build an early lead
Long Island began the deciding game by scoring twice in the first inning. Henry Kusiak and Jorge Bonifacio hit consecutive run-producing doubles against Southern Maryland starter Andrew Thurman, giving the Ducks an immediate 2-0 advantage.
The home side added another run in the fourth when Jacob Robson singled through the middle. Alsander Womack followed with a run-scoring double to left-center in the fifth, stretching the lead to 4-0.
Wilmer Difo supplied the next run in the seventh inning with a solo home run over the right-field wall. The Blue Crabs responded in the eighth, when Ezequiel Pagan hit a two-run double to right with two outs. That reduced the margin to 5-2 and briefly offered Southern Maryland a chance to extend the series.
Long Island answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Kole Kaler doubled home a run, and Chris Roller followed with a single that brought another runner across. The two plays restored a five-run lead and put the result beyond reach.
Margevicius completes the job
Nick Margevicius delivered a complete-game performance for Long Island. He worked all nine innings, surrendered seven hits and two runs, issued no walks and struck out five. Of his 97 pitches, 79 were strikes.
Margevicius received the Championship Series Most Valuable Player award and finished the series with a 2-0 record. His performance allowed the Ducks to close out the championship without needing a fourth game.
Thurman was charged with the loss. He pitched five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five.
Womack led the Ducks at the plate with two doubles, one RBI and one run. Difo had two hits, drove in one run and scored twice. Bonifacio, Long Island’s 2026 Team MVP, collected two hits and one RBI.
A championship at the end of a strong season
The title concluded Long Island’s 26th season of play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The club plays its home games at Fairfield Properties Ballpark and is identified by the publisher as the league’s all-time leader in both wins and attendance.
The Ducks have also led the MLB Partner Leagues in total attendance for six straight seasons, according to liducks.com, and have recorded 730 sellouts, a league record. Those figures place the championship within a broader period of sustained success for the Central Islip club.
The Atlantic League is celebrating its third decade and is Major League Baseball’s first Professional Partner League. The league describes itself as a route for players seeking opportunities with major-league organizations and as a testing ground for baseball innovation. Across its 27-year history, it has sent more than 1,450 players to MLB organizations and drawn nearly 50 million fans to 10 ballparks in states stretching from New York to North Carolina.