THE ACE & THE CROWN

The Long Island Ducks did not leave much room for suspense this postseason. Six games. Six wins. Two series sweeps. And by the time the final out was recorded at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, Long Island had its fifth Atlantic League championship and one of the finest seasons in franchise history.

Nick Margevicius became the face of that finish, and deservedly so. The left-hander went 6-2 during the regular season, striking out 58 while issuing just four walks in 64.2 innings. Then he found another gear in September. In Game 2 of the North Division Championship Series, Margevicius held Hagerstown to one run and two hits over eight innings, striking out eight and retiring the final 16 hitters he faced.

The Long Island Ducks did not leave much room for suspense this postseason. Six games. Six wins. Two series sweeps. And by the time the final out was recorded at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, Long Island had its fifth Atlantic League championship and one of the finest seasons in franchise history.

But his lasting image from this championship will come from the final night.

With a chance to finish the job against Southern Maryland, Margevicius never handed the baseball over. He threw all nine innings of the Ducks’ 7-2 championship-clinching victory, allowing seven hits, walking nobody and throwing 79 of his 97 pitches for strikes. By night’s end, he had a complete game, a championship and Atlantic League Championship Series MVP honors. Long Island Ducks

Still, reducing this run to one arm would miss what made these Ducks so good.

Long Island finished 80-46, the best record in the Atlantic League, while setting a franchise record with a .635 winning percentage. Jorge Bonifacio supplied a 30-home run season and earned team MVP honors. Henry Kusiak, Alsander Womack, Marcus Chiu, Wilmer Difo, Chris Roller and others seemingly took turns providing the hit, the run or the defensive play the club needed. The Ducks swept Hagerstown, swept Southern Maryland and became the first team in franchise history to go a perfect 6-0 through the postseason.

That is what separates this championship from a great individual performance wrapped around a trophy. Margevicius gave the Ducks an ace at the front of the story, but the championship belonged to the room.

And there is one more name that will officially be attached to it.

During a sit-down with New York Sportscene, Ducks president Michael Pfaff and manager Lew Ford addressed one of the questions they said fans have asked repeatedly since the title was won: Will Trevor Bauer receive a championship ring?

The answer is yes.

Bauer’s stay on Long Island was brief, but his seven starts became one of the stories of th\e Ducks’ season. Pfaff and Ford confirmed that he will receive a ring along with the rest of the championship club.

For the Ducks, the hardware now catches up with the résumé. Eighty wins. Six straight in October’s pressure cooker, even if the calendar still read September. A fifth championship.

And an ace who took the ball for the last one and never gave it back.