It was business as usual for the Marlboro softball team.

Ella Leduc’s throw from third base reached Madison Gibney, locking up the top-seeded Dukes’ 7-1 win over the No. 3 Ellenville Blue Devils and their third straight Section 9 Class B championship on Friday at Middletown High School.

It wasn’t until Leduc hoisted the championship plaque over her head that the celebration began.

“Of course, we had to triple it three years in a row, but it feels good being a leader on a team,” pitcher Leah Gunsett said. “I am very honored to be here and to have the champion plaque.”

Gunsett has watched from the bench during the last two Section 9 titles, as she was the Dukes No. 2 pitcher behind Ava Del Salto. In her first season as a No. 1, she limited the Blue Devils to a run on 2 hits. She struck out seven.

“It feels pretty special,” Gunsett said. “Being in the center of everything in the circle, it feels good to be leading my team to another championship.”

The championship celebration was subdued because the Dukes have higher goals, especially after getting a taste of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class B Final Four.

They were eliminated in the state semifinals last year, and now want more.

That mission was scheduled to start Tuesday at Middletown High School against the Section 1 champion Rye Neck.

“That’s all I want this year,” Gunsett said. “No matter what happened at states because just being there is like a huge accomplishment. I would love to celebrate that with my team.”

The Dukes put themselves in the driver’s seat in the third inning when three straight doubles by Emma Jackson, Gunsett and Taylor Castellani produced two runs to break a 1-1 tie. Then Gibney doubled home another run, giving the Dukes a 4-1 lead.

That came an inning after the Dukes loaded the bases with none out and failed to score.

“It’s funny how the game is because I thought that was going be a big inning,” Marlboro coach Ray Leduc said. “Then we turned around the next inning, we had two outs and really not much going, and we got hit, hit, hit. And we scored more runs with two outs than we did with bases loaded with no outs.”

The Dukes added a run in the fourth on Jackson’s two-out double, and two more in the sixth inning on a double by Emily Tarsio and a single by Kalista Birkenstock.

That was more than enough for Gunsett.

“In the beginning I was kind of stressed out a little bit because it was really close,” Gunsett said. “(The runs) kind of slowed down the game a little bit and helped me relax.”

The Dukes advanced to the title game by avenging one of their two losses of the season when they beat the No. 5 Highland Huskies, 12-0, in Wednesdays semifinal.

The Huskies advanced with a 3-0 win over No. 4 James I. O’Neill on May 22.

The Dukes didn’t have much time to relax after winning the sectional title. After a day off Saturday, they were back at it during the Sunday and Monday holiday weekend to prepare for Tuesday’s Subregional.

“I told them we had to practice Sunday and Monday on a holiday weekend and not one person blinked an eye,” Leduc said. “They just said, ‘what time?’”