Summer 2025 Championship and Awards

The league championship matched top seed Black Sheep with 3-seed Beets. Beets reached the championship with a narrow 2-point win over Lean Green Bean Machine in the opening round, followed by an extremely hard-fought win on Universe point over the very strong White team in the semifinals. Black Sheep escaped with a two point win over Blue's Clues in the semifinals. In the championship, Black's cutters were flying down the field and into the air in the first half, with Blake making a contested catch for a score as one of the highlights. Beets kept it close with chilly play and some athletes of their own. Black Sheep took half up 8-7.

Black received the 2nd half pull, and Beets came out in a zone. The zone got a turn in the end zone, Liam got the D. After the turn Liam found Zach for a break and tied the score at 8-8. Black committed another quick turn on the next pull. Liam got the D again, and this time he found Skippy for the break, putting Beets in the lead 9-8!

Hanz got a third D in a row for Beets, Liam tried to throw a third consecutive break, but his shot to Cole fell incomplete in spite of Cole's furious bid. Cole got a D at the opposite end of the field and gave Beets another chance at a break, but Josh Shaffner intercepted to get the disc back for Black Sheep. Josh completed the bookends on a pass from Brian to score a much-needed hold. 9-9 tie game.

Beets held on offense with a Liam assist to Tyler to retake the lead 10-9. Black Sheep's handlers and cutters switched up on the next point, with Blake throwing a score to Brian for a hold versus Beets zone. Tied 10-10.

Brian forced a turn with a great mark, then he found Blake for a soaring grab. The Black break put them back into the lead 11-10. Beets called timeout.

Out of the timeout, Cody found Zach for a Beets hold. Tied 11-11. Blake to Brian again for the Black Sheep hold, 12-11 Black.

Jared got a D in the end zone, and the Black Sheep capitalized with a break score from Brian to Tom. 13-11 Black.

Lindsay found Zach for a Beets hold, narrowing the score to 13-12 Black. Beets zone paid off again, with Melissa forcing an errant throw. Blake forced a Beets turn with a hard mark before Black Sheep turned the disc over again. This time, Liam would not be denied getting the hold for Beets. 13-13.

Black Sheep had an unlucky turn as Brian slipped as he made his cut. The disc fell incomplete. Liam hucked again looking for Tyler but the throw was too deep. Jared tried to do the same for Black Sheep as he made a big throw to Sydney, which also fell incomplete. Finally, Liam hucked to the away corner of the sandy end zone and found Kate Savard for a HUGE score. The sidelines erupted as Beets took the lead 14-13 and used their final timeout.

Out of the timeout, Liam got another D giving Beets a chance for the win. Cody threw a hammer to Cole for the final score. Beets broke seed to win the Summer 2025 Championship 15-13.

Player of the game had to be Liam, who was everywhere on defense and assisted on most of Beets scores. After the game, he talked about the elite level of cutting talent on Black Sheep. He felt Beets needed to try a zone set to see if it could generate some turns, and it worked.

Great season, Black Sheep. With only two losses in the regular season, Black was the team to beat and it took a supreme effort to do it. Congratulations to Jamonte winning the league in his first season as a team captain.

I also want to give a huge shout-out to Billy Franz who worked in secret this summer to create a 3D-printed East Fishkill fishbone trophy to present to the champs.