The walk-off has been a big part of the Marlboro Iron Dukes’ success during the Section 9 Class A tournament.

That’s how they got both of their wins.

After winning their semifinal matchup on a walk-off balk, Tyson Fernandez delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting the top-seeded Iron Dukes to a 7-6 victory over the third-seeded Beacon Bulldogs and the sectional championship on Saturday at Cantine Field in Saugerties.

“We’ve been in this situation multiple times this year, and we have all the trust in ourselves,” Fernandez said. “We know that we’re going to do it. We did it Wednesday against Red Hook. We were down and came back. We’ve done it many times this season. It’s just because we know we’re a family and we all trust each other.”

The Iron Dukes were never down in Saturday’s game. They did, however, lose a 6-1 lead.
With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh inning, Owen Schlagler led off with a base hit, and then with one out, Cooper Vogel singled, pushing Schlagler to second, bringing up Fernandez.

“I didn’t like any of the first couple of pitches and got the count to whatever it was,” Fernandez said. “Whatever I saw, I knew I was going to try and hit a line drive. He gave it to me, and I did what I needed to do.”

He hit a line drive into the left-center field gap and Schlagler scored easily with the winning run, setting off a celebration at home plate and on the infield.

“You’ve got to stay confident and in control,” Marlboro coach John Morrissey said. “You don’t let fear get in the way and it’s just about doing the job in front of you. We use the acronym W.I.N. – what’s important now- and it doesn’t matter that it’s 6-6. What’s important now is just that at-bat.”

So, what’s important now?

It’s important that the Iron Dukes are moving forward into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A and have earned a bye into the regional finals. They will play the winner of Saturday’s game between Section 1 champion Nanuet and Section 4 champion Maine-Endwell. If Nanuet wins, the game will be at 1 p.m. at SUNY Purchase and if Maine-Endwell wins, the game will be at 4 p.m. at Union-Endicott.

“We know how good we are,” Fernandez said. “We had confidence before the season started that we were going to be here and in this moment.”

They may be going into the state tournament short-handed as Tommy Benfer seemed to injure his hamstring running to first base.

“He means a lot to us,” Morrissey said. “He’s the guy who wants to be in every situation out there, and I know this is killing him right now.”