State College Spikes win first New York-Penn League Championship

The State College Spikes, short-season affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, have won their first New York-Penn League Championship in franchise history.

The team took two games to one over the Tri-City ValleyCats.

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In the best-of-three series, the club won on the road to bring the championship trophy home to State College. It’s the first professional championship for just about all the players on the roster.

Eighth round draft pick Nick Thompson hit a two-run home run in the first inning, sparking a six-run inning for the Spikes.

The club added another four runs in the fourth.

Starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon, selected in the ninth round of this summer’s MLB Draft, threw six shutout innings for the Spikes to earn the win. He allowed three hits and a walk while striking out five batters.

Last season, the Spikes lost in a 2-1 series to the ValleyCats. This year, their positions were reversed.

The championship caps off a season that saw quite a few club records set during the 2014 campaign. The team matched a record of 48 wins and Rowan Wick smashed his way into the single-season home run record with just 14 home runs in 35 games played. They broke their single-game attendance record (6,066 fans) and game length (15 innings and five hours) records on August 30 during the regular season home finale.