TRASH PANDAS WIN! Rocket City Trash Pandas win Southern League Championship
Trash Pandas capture first Southern League championship with 3-1 victory!
MADISON – For the first time in three decades, the Southern League Baseball Championship Banner proudly flies above North Alabama as the Rocket City Trash Pandas defeated the Biloxi Shuckers three games to one to earn the 2026 championship trophy before the home crowd at Toyota Field with a 3-1 victory in game three of the title series.
One season after the Trash Pandas finished 45-92 sporting the worst record in Minor League Baseball, the Double A franchise of the Los Angeles Angels completed the remarkable transformation with a 72-65 regular season record and then a 4-1 mark in the post-season playoffs.
“The way these guys went about their business all year, I am very ecstatic for these guys. This is what you plan for,” said Joe Kruzel, first-year manager of the Trash Pandas.
In the title winning game Wednesday night, it was only fitting the winning pitcher would be Austin Gordon. The tall, right-handed throwing hurler was the starting pitcher on opening night for the Trash Pandas and was given a standing ovation by the almost 3,000 fans in attendance after he went 6.1 innings with 10 strikeouts giving up one run to the Shuckers. He tossed 66 strikes of his 95 pitches against 25 batters. In the post-season, Gordon was 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA in 11.1 innings.
Kenyon Yovan recorded the final five outs to earn the save. “We got guys here that have been grinding from the bottom to the mountain top. We got it done,” said Yovan.
“The victory was special,” added Gordon, who had his teammates supply the run support he needed scoring off two singles in both the third and fourth innings. The winning Trash Pandas also added a solo homerun in the seventh inning by Arjun Nimmals.
The victory was the first in the Trash Pandas’ history and ended an 18-year wait for the parent club Angels, which had not celebrated a Double-A title since 2008. But for North Alabama, the victory came after a long wait. The last Championship Banner came in 1994 as the former team in the area, the Huntsville Stars, last won the outright title that year, and shared the 2001 title with Jacksonville after the September 11 attacks canceled the finals.
Ironically, the Trash Pandas’ Southern League Championship came with a twist. Biloxi’s franchise previously played as the Huntsville Stars from 1985 to 2014 before relocating to the South Mississippi region.
“It’s going to be a hell of a celebration, like it was 1999,” added Kruzel, a play-on wording from a 1990’s hit song by the late music star Prince.
Only this time, a celebration, like it was 1994.
