Marlboro’s baseball team entered the Section 9 Class B final against Rondout Saturday in Saugerties as the defending sectional champions with shutouts in the quarter and semifinals.

And Sam Mongelli ensured the game finished in as a dominant way the Dukes, the top-seed, have ruled MHAL this season when they took that title. The Dukes had a 3-0 lead entering the fifth inning, and they scored three runs to make it 6-0.

The bases were loaded for Mongelli in the inning with two outs, and he sent a shot off to Sam Culwell deep beyond the left field fence for a grand slam to make it 10-0, ending the game under the mercy rule, and earning the 2016 state champs another sectional title.

“I knew it was out. I just got the good part of the bat on it,” said Mongelli. “The ball got small real quick.”

The Dukes improved to 19-2 and scored the game’s first runs with Brendan Mahusky’s two-run double in the third inning. In the fifth, the Ganders got into trouble with hits, hit batsmen and walks, giving Mongelli the opportunity to do something dramatic.

“We have a team full of the right guys for a situation,” said John Morrissey, Marlboro’s coach. “And Sam came up as the right guy for that situation today.”

When Rondout came up in the fourth, Fred Callo, Marlboro’s starter, took a ground ball off his pitching hand, and he was replaced by Christian Diorio. Dioro got the final out of the inning and gave up a single in the fifth before the Dukes came up in the bottom of the inning to score seven runs, sending the Ganders home with a loss.

“Our guys have been mentally tough,” said Morrissey, “and they have been successful.”

The Dukes head to Section 1 Thursday to play an undetermined opponent at an undetermined time during the regional semis.