Fremont, Neb.—The Fremont Moo finished off a championship season in dominant fashion, thrashing the Badlands Big Sticks 10-1 to clinch the first Expedition League championship in franchise history. The Moo swept the Big Sticks by a combined 18-3 in the two games of the best-of-three championship series.

The Moo secured control of the game early. Kanin Dodge led off the bottom of the first with a single to right. Dillon Sears followed with a single to left, moving Dodge to second. Cooper Morrison bunted for a hit, then when the pitcher threw wildly to first, Dodge and Sears scored, giving the Moo a 2-0 lead. Morrison moved to third on the play. With one out, Jack Simonsen singled to left, scoring Morrison to make it 3-0. Hayden Klemenok followed with a double to center, scoring Simonsen. Chaney Dodge singled up the middle to score Klemenok, boosting the lead to 5-0. Dodge moved to second on a groundout by Matt Abdelnour, stole third, then scored on an RBI single by Nick Emanuel to push the lead to 6-0.

Fremont added to its lead in the second. Sears hit a pop-up in front of home plate that landed for a hit. Morrison followed with a single to center, with Sears beating a throw to third. The throw skipped into the Moo dugout, allowing Sears to score to make it 7-0, Fremont. Badlands got on the board in the top of the third. With the bases empty and two outs, Wyatt Setian lofted a home run to left, cutting the Moo lead to six.

From there, Van Dyke settled in and worked through a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, stranded two runners in the fifth and two more in the sixth. In total, Van Dyke worked six innings, scattering nine hits while allowing just one earned run with one walk, striking out seven.

The Moo tacked on a couple more runs in the seventh. Ronnie McBride singled to left, stole second and stole third. Simonsen drew a walk, then Klemenok singled to right to drive in McBride and move Simonsen to third. Klemenok was caught trying to steal second, but on the play, Simonsen scored to make it 9-1.

Every Moo starter had at least one hit. Sears paced the Fremont offense by hitting three-for-five on the night and 5-for-10 in the championship series. Morrison was two-for-four with an RBI, while McBride was two-for-four with an RBI. After Van Dyke, Brett Sears pitched two innings of one-hit, shutout ball, while Hilton Mehrmann came out of the bullpen for the ninth, allowing just one hit while securing the championship with a strikeout of Gaylan Young.

Fremont is the third different Expedition League franchise to win a championship. Western Nebraska won the title in 2018, while Badlands won the 2019 crown.