Farmingdale State is your 2025 Skyline Conference Champions with a 2-1 win over USMMA ! pic.twitter.com/hg6Sh3IISp
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2025
On a perfect afternoon for baseball on Mother’s Day, the No. 3 seed Farmingdale State Rams took down No. 1 USMMA in both games to capture the 2025 Skyline Conference Championship. It marks their first title since 2019 and 9th since Keith Osik became head coach 20 years ago.
A dominant outing from Derek Watts in game one forced a winner-take-all game two. The Rams answered the challenge with a 2-1 win thanks to a great outing from Tyler DiRocco, and a clutch, two-out, go-ahead RBI single by Chris McGuggart.
“It was my first at bat of the day and I was just thinking I gotta get a fastball in this at bat and I got my outside fastball and just drove it up the middle.” McGuggart is a 2020 graduate of Bethpage HS. He was a First Team All-Region player at Nassau CC before transferring to Farmingdale State. He was named Second Team All-Skyline Conference in 2023 (.402 AVG) and started 27 games last year with a .326 AVG. McGuggart is not a typical player off the bench, but Coach Osik noted that he had been sidelined with a concussion which impacted his availability.
Bottom 8: Pinch hitter Chris McGuggart comes through with a clutch, 2-out go-ahead single and Farmingdale takes a 2-1 lead pic.twitter.com/ECB8dZEd8k
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2025
“We actually haven’t had him throughout the playoffs, he’s been struggling with some symptoms here and there. He just hasn’t felt right but we just kind of picked a spot and asked him if he was alright and he said he was good to go. Big, big at bat from him.”
In a low-scoring pitcher’s duel, there was no question that one late-inning run would likely be the difference. The Rams sent ace Johnny Dougherty, the Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year, to the mound in the 9th and he fired a scoreless frame with the final out coming on a pop up to third base. Dennis Kelly earned the victory, he fired a spotless 1.1 innings with two strikeouts. Ryan Felton was tagged with the tough luck loss. He pitched 8 innings, allowing just two runs while striking out seven and issuing zero free passes.
Aside from McGuggart’s RBI single, the Rams other run came on an RBI single by Jordan Lambert way back in the first inning to score Richie Heyder.
The Rams took the difficult path to becoming champs, having to win a first round game on Wednesday against Manhattanville, prior to entering the double-elimination tournament. They won on the road against St. Joseph’s, 2-1, on Thursday. After a rainout on Friday, they were defeated by USMMA, 6-2, to put their backs against the wall. Facing elimination against Mount St. Mary’s, they responded with a convincing 9-1 victory to punch their ticket to the Skyline Conference Championship against the top seeded Mariners.
Pitching and defense was the story for the Rams in this tournament, as they allowed 11 runs in their six playoff games, with 6 of those runs in a two-inning stretch on Saturday’s loss to USMMA.
DiRocco was named Most Outstanding Player of the Championship, as the senior notched 8 hits on the week, recorded the save against St. Joseph’s and fired a strong 6.2 innings in the finale without allowing an earned run.
After the game, DiRocco stated the following:
“Feels absolutely unbelievable, we’ve worked for this all year. Coming up short in the finals last year, it’s really all we were thinking about the whole year and we didn’t want to have that feeling like last year.”
DiRocco has been phenomenal for the Rams as an impact player at the plate and on the mound, but Head Coach Keith Osik noted that it was the first time he was stretched out. His longest previous outing was two innings on May 3, so this was a significant jump in length.
The Rams improve to 26-14 overall on the season, after starting 1-5, and automatically qualify for the NCAA Regionals. The NCAA Selection show is today at 12pm.
