FerryHawks rally in ninth to stun Ducks again

The Staten Island FerryHawks turned the ninth inning into the separator again, rallying past the Long Island Ducks at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, New York. For Long Island, it was another painful finish against a rival that keeps forcing the game to the last few outs.

The loss landed in the middle of a tight 2026 series between the Atlantic League rivals, and the shape of the recent results tells the story. Long Island had already fallen 7-4 to Staten Island on July 29 in the second game of a six-game set at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, when the FerryHawks broke that game open with a four-run eighth inning. The Ducks’ current news page also showed a July 22 split with the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars, underscoring that Long Island was moving through a run of close games even before this ninth-inning swing.

What made this one sting was the timing. Staten Island did not need a long burst to flip the result, only one final inning, and that is exactly where the Ducks could not lock it down. In a rivalry that has repeatedly been decided by late frames, the FerryHawks have shown they can wait out the game and still produce when the leverage is highest. Long Island, meanwhile, has had to absorb the emotional hit of seeing a game that was within reach turn before the final out.

The matchup also fits the broader profile of Atlantic League baseball. The FerryHawks’ team site describes the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball as the highest level of professional baseball outside Major League Baseball and a circuit with more than a quarter-century of history. That edge is built for nights like this, when bullpen decisions, situational at-bats and one clean inning can decide everything. Staten Island handled the final stretch better, and Long Island paid for it again in a series that is tightening by the inning.