Bitter End: Serna sets strikeout record, Renegades fall in walk-off in season finale
Wilmington, Del. (Sept. 6, 2026) – The Hudson Valley Renegades lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Sunday afternoon at Frawley Stadium on a walk-off home run by Jack Moroknek. It was the eighth walk-off loss suffered in 2026 by the Renegades, and their first since 6/25
Wilmington, Del. (Sept. 6, 2026) – The Hudson Valley Renegades lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Sunday afternoon at Frawley Stadium on a walk-off home run by Jack Moroknek.
It was the eighth walk-off loss suffered in 2026 by the Renegades, and their first since 6/25 at Bowling Green.
With the loss the Renegades finished the season at 65-65 on the season, posting a .500 record for the 14th straight season.
Hudson Valley clinched at least a .500 record with a win on Thursday but lost the final three games of the season.
The Renegades led the game 5-0 after the fourth inning, but the Blue Rocks rallied to score the final six runs of the game for the win.
The Renegades managed only one hit and two baserunners after the fourth inning.
The Renegades finished their season series with the Wilmington Blue Rocks 12-18. They also finished with a 34-30 record overall on the road this season.
RHP Luis Serna (6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR) picked up seven strikeouts and threw his first quality start since 7/8 in his last start of the season. It was Serna’s fourth quality start of the season overall.
Serna finished the season with 140 strikeouts to lead the South Atlantic League. He is the first Renegades pitcher to lead the SAL in strikeouts.
He also set the Renegades single-season franchise record for most strikeouts, surpassing Drew Thorpe’s previous club record of 138 in 2023 with his sixth strikeout of the game.
In addition to setting the team’s single-season strikeout record, Serna also finished second in team history in IP (Kyle Carr, 119.1, 2025),
Serna and Allen Facundo (123) finished the season first and second in the SAL in strikeouts, the only teammates in any league to finish 1-2 in strikeouts this season.
Serna finished the 2026 season leading the SAL in strikeouts, ERA (4.32), Opponent’s AVG (.224), and WHIP (1.19), and finished second in the league in IP (118.2).
Serna becomes the fourth Renegades pitcher since 2022 to lead the SAL in ERA, joining Blas Castano (2022), Drew Thorpe (2023), and Kyle Carr (2025).
Serna did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning, at which point he gave up a single to Teo Banks and a two-run home run to Nate Rombach back-to-back.
Rombach’s homer was the 12th allowed this season by Serna, but only his fifth in nine games after the All-Star Break.
1B Kyle West (1-for-3, R, 2 BB, SB) reached base three times and stole is 20th base of the season, becoming the first Renegades player in team history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season.
West finished the season with the team lead in homers (20), the third-highest single-season total in team history. He also led the team with 75 RBIs, the second-most in team history and scored a team-high 68 runs, the third-highest total in Renegades history.
SS Jackson Lovich (2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, SB) recorded his 12th multi-hit game in 34 games with the Renegades.
Lovich finished his first full professional season with 21 doubles, 24 home runs and 89 RBIs. He currently leads Yankees minor leaguers in RBIs this season, but the Double-A and Triple-A seasons extend past Sunday.
His stolen base in the ninth was his 20th with Hudson Valley.
LF Dean Toigo (1-for-4, RBI) has gotten on base in 20 of his first 22 professional games and had hits in his last four in a row and seven of his last eight.
2B Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek (1-for-3, R, 2B, RBI) hit a ground-rule double and scored and also had a sacrifice fly.
CF Maika Niu (1-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB, SB) hit his fourth double and eighth extra-base hit with the Renegades in 23 games.
C David McCann (1-for-4, RBI) had an RBI single in the first inning, his 20th RBI in 23 games with the Renegades and 56th overall in 2026 in 68 games.
RHP Andrew Landry (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) fired a scoreless inning in relief. Over his final 16 appearances of the season (since 7/7), Landry posted a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 IP.
RHP Hansel Rincon (0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) allowed the walk-off home run to Jack Moroknek in the ninth inning.
It was just the third home run allowed by Rincon in 44.0 IP this season.
Rincon tied Bryce Warrecker (2025) and Matt Keating (2024) for most relief appearances in a single season in Renegades history by making his 40th appearance of the season on Sunday.