FINA: Wantagh 6 Division 2
WP: Jimmy Joyce
Anthony Fontana: 2-Run HR
Trevor Fagan: 2 RBI’s pic.twitter.com/cWeM3Nk9nD aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2017
Wantagh once again proved they are a “playoff team” as they downed the Division Blue Dragons by a score of 6-2 in game one of the three-game series.
From the start of this game, the Warriors seemed to have control of this game.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, Trevor Fagan delivered a 2 RBI single, and later scored on a wild pitch. His 2 RBI capitalized a 4-run 1st inning, and gave star pitcher Jimmy Joyce all of the run support he needed.
“When you give a pitcher like Jimmy an early cushion like that in the ballgame, it helps him and us play comfortably the rest of the way,” said Fagan.
On the mound, Joyce threw six shutout innings and earned his seventh victory of the season. Although Joyce was throwing hard and his curveball was on the majority of the game, he faced a few tough jams throughout the game, which he was able to get out of.
“Early in the game I was struggling with my control, but once me and Trevor started connecting with my pitch calling it made everything a lot easier,” said Joyce. “Taking the first game in the series is huge because we want the pressure to be on them not us, now that they have to face an elimination next game and we don’t so we can play relaxed and just worry about making plays,” he added.
Following the 1st inning, neither team could get anything going offensively. At the end of the 1st inning, it was a 4-0 Wantagh lead, and it would stay that way until the 6th inning.
The Furman-commit Anthony Fontana would break their five inning offensive drought by crushing a 2-run home run to give Joyce a six-run cushion.
Division got on the board in the seventh on a two-run double by Brandon O’Brien to inch closer, but Joyce slammed the door after that.
“After the 1st inning we were flat for pretty much the rest of the game so I knew I needed a good at bat,” said Fontana. “I waited back on a high fastball and it paid off,” he added.
With the win, Wantagh is now one game away from playing in their second consecutive county championship in two years. They will look to continue their winning ways tomorrow.
