The belt is staying on the Island. When the Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks this week they clinched the 2024 Battle of the Belt between the Empire State rivals.
The Ducks won 6-2 to take two of the three games in the series. They were led by a home run by Aaron Antonini, a dominant pitching performance by Ellis, who notched his first Ducks win, and the bullpen trio of Peyton Williams, Jake Fishman and David Griffin closed it out.
Antonini also added a pair of walks and two runs scored to extend his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games overall.
2022 was the first time the Atlantic League featured two teams that played in New York as their hometown. The two rivals are separated by just 59 miles, Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip and the Ballpark by the Ferry in Staten Island can be traveled to by using the Belt Parkway.
So the rivalry series was aptly named the “Battle of the Belt”. The winner of the series is awarded a custom-designed championship belt. The belt remains in that team’s possession until the opposing team wins a season series.