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Season Preview: State Champ Blue Streaks Run it Back

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Featured, Sports.

A trolley transports members of the state champion Saratoga Springs baseball team from Congress Park to City Hall during a downtown parade in 2025. Photo by Aidan Cahill.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In the majors, the New York Yankees have faced criticism for essentially running back their 2025 team, which fell in the American League Division Series to the Toronto Blue Jays. But for the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks, who capped off last season with their first-ever Class AAA state title, running it back is a blessing.

15 of the 22 members of last year’s championship Saratoga squad will return in 2026. 

On March 26, the Blue Streaks headed to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for spring training at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Baseball Complex. Regular season play begins on April 4 at Baldwinsville. 

Before opening day, two starting roles will be decided: left field and first base. But the rest of the starters will return, and their morale, said Head Coach Andy Cuthbertson, is high.

“The team chemistry is kind of where it was when it left off last year,” Cuthbertson told Saratoga TODAY. “In terms of the cohesiveness of the team, what they went through last year, a lot of guys are bringing that same energy into the preseason right now. And the new guys that are joining the squad, although they might have been on JV last year, I think they understand what a monumental season that we had last year, and they understand what the culture is that’s already in place. They’ve jumped right in, and it feels natural.”

Last year’s historic season was notable not just for how it ended, but also for how it took shape. The Blue Streaks lost 6 of their first 12 games before then winning 15 straight. To reach the state championship, Saratoga battled Niagara Falls in an extra-innings contest decided by just one run. In the title game, they defeated Ketcham, a team appearing in its third-straight state championship.

The road to a state title is long, arduous, and unpredictable. In 2026, the Blue Streaks will take it one game at a time.

“We’re not coming right out and saying, ‘Hey, let’s be state champions again,’” Cuthbertson said. “There’s a mentality of one inning at a time, one game at a time. You’ve got to fall in love with the process, and the outcome will fall in place if that happens.”

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