The Wilmington Iron Pigs will be taking on the Norfolk Cavaliers in the 2025 DelMarVa Championship. The Iron Pigs have waited 11 seasons to return to the Championship, where they lost to the Norfolk Cavaliers. The faces have changed over the years, but one thing is for certain the fans of the Wilmington Iron Pigs have not forgotten.
The Cavaliers however return for their 8th time, the most in DBL history, and look to win for the 7th time. From 2016-2019 there was no team better than the Norfolk Cavaliers, but the team has struggled to return to the promise land over the past 6 seasons, reaching the title game only 2 times. This season the energy in Norfolk is different and many fans in Norfolk are excited at the prospect of bringing the trophy back home to Norfolk.
Here is a look at the past Championships match-ups (bold signifies Champion):
The Cavaliers and the Iron Pigs met 4 times this season, with Cavaliers winning 3 of the 4 games. Most recently the Cav's beat the Iron Pigs 4-1 and 10-0 at home with Miguel Contreras and Pablo Garcia shutting down the powerful Wilmington offense. Earlier in the season the teams split the 2-game set in Wilmington, with the Cav's winning 8-3 in teh frist game, and the Iron Pigs pulling off a win in 10-innings in game 2 5-4.
Both teams are heading into the series healthy and playing well. The top two teams during the regular season, the top teams in Runs Against... this should make for a very entertaining series.
Wilmington Iron Pigs
Record: 97-65 .599 / +14
How they got here: Beat the Lewes Braves 4 games to 3
Playoff Appearances: 5 (2013-2015, 2017, 2025)
Championship Appearances: 2 (2014, 2025)
Championships: 0
Injuries: Closer Marcos Estrada. Marcos Estrada strained his rotator cuff during the Lewes series and will miss the Championship series. Estrada is the only player on either roster that played in the 2014 Cavaliers vs Iron Pigs series, he was on the 2014 Iron Pigs roster. He returned to the Iron Pigs this season.
Keys to Winning: The key for the Iron Pigs is simple, score runs. The offense has a lot of power and is capable of doing a lot of damage really quickly. The Iron Pigs will need it all to come together to beat the staff of the Cavaliers. Antonio Castaneda is quite possible the best hitter in the game, Alonso Martinez one of the games top power-hitters and Matt Fisher is a top young hitter in the game. If those 3 guys hit the ball and drive in runs the Cav's will have a hard time winning this series.
Interesting Fact: The Iron Pigs have 4 players on their active playoff roster who have played for the Norfolk Cavaliers: Jamie King, Julio Saldana, Tom Anderson and Jose Escamilla. Escamilla and King both have won titles with the Cavaliers.
Norfolk Cavaliers
Record: 100-62 .617 / +3
Playoffs: 11 (2014, 2016-2025)
Championship Appearances: 7 (2014, 2016-2019, 2023, 2025)
Championships: 5 (2014, 2016-2019)
Injuries: None
Keys to Winning: The key for the Cavaliers to win is the same as the Iron Pigs, score runs. The Cavaliers have the top pitching staff in the game and with 4 of the best starts on the hill. They will do their job, but they can't get wins if the Cav's don't score runs. The Cav's will rely on Henry Hamer, Jeff Lewis, Bob Short and Francisco Gallegos to hit the ball this series. If they don't hit, they won't stand a chance.
In the end this really boils down to the the experienced Cavaliers club against the young inexperienced Iron Pigs, and what team is going to score more runs. The Cav's enter the series red-hot sweeping the Blue Crabs while the Iron Pigs battled their way to a 7th game victory... will that extra rest hurt or help? Will those extra 3 games make any difference? Both teams have their staffs lined up 1-2-3, with game 1 set-up to be one of the best pitching match-ups in the game... Pitching, hitting and fielding the key to this series. Who takes home the crown? I have a good feeling about this years Cavaliers team and because of that I say we will win the title in 6 games.
(ok that maybe a little biased, but I don't think the Iron Pigs have the pitching depth to stop the Cavaliers for 7 games. We throw out an ace each game and I think that will be the difference.)