One of the things I would change about the state of baseball in our region is that I would eliminate the New York State tournament in favor of a three-game series between the winner of Class AA and A on Long Island.
Why?
Because the tournament is hosted in Binghamton and with the exception of the teams that qualify, very few people are able to make the four-hour drive upstate. That is a shame that the players invest all the blood, sweats and tears and then they play in front of a sparse crowd.
I think it would’ve been so much more fascinating to see a three-game series between Massapequa and Wantagh to see who the true champions of Long Island are rather than having a large-school and small-school champion. Wantagh was talented enough to play in Class AA the past two years and it would’ve been an extremely close series.
The Massapequa Chiefs went 20-7 while the Wantagh Warriors went 21-6, virtually identical records. Despite the Chiefs playing in Class AA, a case can be made that Class A featured a more difficult road to a county championship considering the presence of programs like Division, Plainedge, Garden City and Bethpage.
Wantagh would’ve had Jimmy Joyce, Brendan Haas and Anthony Fontana to face Nick Collins, Daniel Gdanski and Dom Kriegel. Two high-octane offenses (7.1 runs/game for Massapequa, 9 double-digit scoring games for Wantagh) and fundamentally-sound teams battling it out in front of 1,500 fans at Farmingdale State College.
Both teams seemed to play their best with their backs against the walls in 2017, they both lost a game in the county championship before clinching.
I think it would’ve been a dramatic series. One can only imagine how it would’ve played out but I give the slightest of edges to Massapequa in a three-game set.
billyp
Was able to open this article but still no luck with yesterday’s.
Vinny Messana
Try now Bill
dkelly
Well written