2025 Dayton Wolves Accomplish ‘Three-Peat’ in Miami Valley Adult Baseball League
Miami Valley Adult Baseball League (Dayton, OH)
Dayton Wolves 11, Dayton Rangers 6 (Game two in best-of-three championship series sweep)
‘Joe Kirby Named Playoffs MVP’
Submitted by Joe Cantrell, League President
The Dayton Wolves captured their third consecutive Miami Valley Adult Baseball League championship this year with a 2-game sweep of the Dayton Rangers.
Game one was a true pitchers’ duel between the Wolves’ Joe Kirby and the Rangers’ Joe Becker. Becker was excellent against the league’s top offense, allowing just one run on five hits in six innings of work, but it was Kirby who came out on top. The Wolves’ righty only allowed three baserunners in the contest.
He carried a no-hitter into the top of the seventh inning with just a 1-run lead. After a 1-out walk, Kirby picked up a huge strikeout against the Rangers’ leadoff man, bringing former league MVP Rob Perderson up as the last hope for the Rangers.
A hard shot to right field broke up the no-hitter, but a strong throw from 2024 Gold Glove outfielder Kyle Markle nailed the tying runner with a back pick to second base to secure the game one win for the Wolves. Joe Kirby finished with a complete game shutout win. Jake Sanders was the offensive hero with his RBI single in the fourth inning.
In game two, the bats woke up for both teams. With a low pitch count in game one, Becker stayed on the mound for the Rangers in game two, but the Wolves finally put up a 4-spot in the top of the first. The Rangers answered with two runs of their own in the first, and the two teams traded blows through the first three innings.
Garrett Wissman, the Wolves catcher who has led the league in home runs for three consecutive seasons, hit his fourth home run of the postseason in the second inning. The Rangers took a 1-run lead thanks to a 3-run third inning before the Wolves went to 2023 and 2024 Cy Young award-winner Jeff Sanders in relief to stop the bleeding.
The biggest hit of the game came in the top of the fourth when Daniel Barhorst stepped to the plate with a runner on first. The 2025 Hall of Fame inductee sent a 2-run homer over the right field fence to give the Wolves a 1-run lead. The Wolves added three more runs in the inning and never looked back from there, clinching the championship with an 11-6 final score. Jeff Sanders pitched the final 4 2/3 innings with no runs allowed for the win.
The wins capped off a 6-1 playoff run for the Wolves to go with their 20-2 regular season record, good enough for first place in the Miami Valley Division. Joe Kirby was named Playoff MVP after going 3-0 with just two earned runs allowed in 20 innings on the mound and batting .538 at the plate.