2025 Express Topple Bears for 48+ Championship Series Sweep in Austin Metro Baseball League
Austin Metro Baseball League, 48+ Division
Austin Express 10, Mahany Bears 9 (Game two in best-of-three championship series sweep)
ALL ABOARD…The Austin Express! A year removed from their train being derailed in a crushing defeat to the Mahany Bears in last year’s Austin Metro Baseball League championship series, the 2025 48+ Austin Express squad left the station fast and never looked back!
It was an active off-season for the 48+ Express, adding to their solid core with very impressive horsepower, through the likes of Ryan “Hamtrak” Hamm (.500 BA, 1.215 OPS), and the Backdraft Bomber – Rob Anthony (.458 BA, .688 Slug), to name a few.
It didn’t take long from there for the new high-powered lineup to get on track and start barreling through the regular season, finishing with a record of 15-3 and punching their ticket for another shot at Title Town!
After a hard-fought first-round series sweep against the Astros, it was official. Next stop – a championship rematch with the Mahany Bears! No slouch and no stranger to playoff baseball, the Bears were returning with their championship roster from the year before, including a formidable pitching rotation that stopped last year’s Express dead in their tracks.
This year, however, will be different. Strong pitching, solid defense, and some big inning offense drove this year’s Express train through to a championship series sweep and regaining the title!
A hard-fought 10-9 victory in Game two was the difference as Daron Shaw earned the win on the mound in addition to a late game two RBI single by Scotty Hoffman to add much-needed insurance runs to strafe off the hot-hitting Bears offense.
Following their locomotive-like surge through the season, Express ace Lucian Turk (10 wins, 35 k’s), looking back at his 28th season, summed it up perfectly, sharing, “This is the most talented team I’ve ever played with. It’s so impressive to watch them stick together…we’re never out of a game. They are the reason I get to keep going to the mound at my age AND WIN!”
Express manager Chris Hux added, “This was the easiest group of baseball players I’ve ever managed. We were on a mission to derail the Bears all season long!”