Atlantic League Champions
2018
SUGAR LAND SKEETERS
Long Island Ducks: Flock Bows Out of Third Straight Atlantic League Championship Series.
There's an old axiom which says it's not a series until the home team loses. Another sports axiom says the clinching game of a short series is always the most difficult to win. Both were realized at the same time by the Long Island Ducks.
After the Skeeters post victories in games One and Two at Sugar Land, the Ducks strike back on familiar ground with victories in games Three and Four. With the series tied, the Ducks host the decisive finale at Bethpage Ballpark. Nine innings later, the Atlantic League's best overall club of the 2018 regular season proves true, as the Sugar Land Skeeters capture their second league championship in the last three years, both coming at the expense of the Long Island Ducks.
This marks Long Island's third consecutive championship series loss. In 2017, they also bowed to the York Revolution. In fact, the Ducks were in the midst of losing eight straight Atlantic League championship games dating back to 2016, until finally achieving a pair of victories this past weekend against the Skeeters.
The Sugar Land Skeeters were the lone Atlantic League team to eclipse 80 victories, with an 81-45 final record. They captured both first and second half flags this season, then dispatched the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Freedom Division finals.
The Ducks finished fourth in the Atlantic League final standings with a 69-57 record, and a 5-5 record in the playoffs.
Thank you, Long Island, for another entertainingly competitive season.
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