The State College Spikes are the New York-Penn League champions for the second time in three years.
Danny Hudzina hit a two-run home run to left in the bottom of the second Monday night at Medlar Field to give the Spikes the lead and all the runs they would need to defeat the Hudson Valley Renegades, 2-1, and sweep the best-of-three championship series.
The championship tops off a strong season for State College, which set a club record for wins during the regular season with 50. The Spikes also set a single-game home attendance record with 6,111 fans at Medlar Field on Sept. 4. Tommy Edman, a sixth-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in June, set the Spikes’ single-season runs scored record with 61.
Hudson Valley got on the board first, loading the bases in the top of the first and taking a 1-0 lead on an infield single off Spikes starter Jordan DeLorenzo.
But after Ryan McCarvel walked to start the bottom of the second, Hudzina hit his two-run blast and DeLorenzo and Greg Tomchick combined to keep the Renegades off the board the rest of the game.
Penn State baseball alumnus Jim Haley, a June draft pick by the Tampa Bay Rays and the Renegades’ starting third baseman, went 0-for-2 with a walk in his return to Medlar Field.
The Spikes’ previous NYPL championship came in 2014 with a series win over Tri-City.
