By Eli Halverson | August 2, 2025

After a long and grueling season, it all came down to this: one final game under the lights on Saturday night. With the series tied 1-1, the GLSCL Championship came down to a winner-take-all clash between the league’s two best teams — the Lima Locos and the Hamilton Joes.

This time, it was Lima who struck first. In the opening inning, back-to-back doubles and a sacrifice fly gave the Locos an early two-run lead. On the mound, Lima starter Johnathon Allen was dominant. Allen tossed six shutout innings, allowing just six hits and no runs as he kept the Joes offense in check.

Lima kept the pressure on in the fourth. Once again, back-to-back doubles did damage, and an RBI single tacked on a second run in the frame, stretching the lead to 4-0. Things didn’t get any easier in the fifth. A single, an error by the catcher, and a sacrifice fly extended the Locos' lead to 5-0.

Heading into the seventh, hope was fading for Hamilton — until a Lima pitching change gave them a spark. Three straight hit batters loaded the bases with one out, and Brett Denby beat out a potential double play to bring in the Joes’ first run. After a walk to Christopher Roa, Jackson Wang was hit by a pitch, bringing in another run and cutting the deficit to three.

But the momentum didn’t last. In the bottom of the seventh, a pair of walks and wild pitches quickly put runners in scoring position. A double and a single followed, allowing three more runs to cross the plate and pushing Lima’s lead to 8-2 — a seemingly insurmountable gap.

Still, the Joes weren’t finished. In the eighth, walks from Aidyn Coffey and Mark Nowak set the stage, and one of the Joes’ top bats delivered: Jaxson Christ ripped a two-run double to the gap, cutting the lead to four.

Needing four runs in the ninth to stay alive, Hamilton gave it one last push. Roa led off with a walk, and after a flyout, Travis Yankovich came through with one of his biggest swings of the summer — an RBI triple to right that sparked real hope. Nowak followed with a grounder that forced an error at third, allowing another run to score and making it 8-6. But that’s where the rally ended. Two strikeouts later, the Locos stormed the field as 2025 GLSCL Champions.

While it didn’t end the way they’d hoped, the 2025 season was still a memorable one for the Hamilton Joes. After a rough and inconsistent start, the team improved steadily as the summer wore on. Even after losing several key contributors along the way, they developed into one of the league’s toughest outs — and came just a few swings away from a title.

On behalf of the Hamilton Joes, thank you to all the coaches, players, fans, interns, staff, and everyone else who made the 2025 season possible. We can’t wait to get back to work in 2026 — and make another run at the trophy.