Patrick Willix with the big fly for Wantagh! Wantagh takes a 5-3 lead in the top of the 8th off a 2-run blast to right center by Willix. pic.twitter.com/AiYdqGhXp7
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2018
The Wantagh Warriors entered enemy lines Wednesday looking to continue their historic run and with one swing of the bat off Patrick Willix, they are headed to their third consecutive Nassau County Class A Final.
They did not get off to the start they were hoping for.
Garden City starting pitcher Billy Duff was in a groove early getting through three innings while only allowing one hit.
Wantagh starting pitcher Patrick Willix did not get off to as smooth of a start. In the first inning, he got into early trouble but escaped stranding runners on first and second. In the second inning he allowed the first run of the game after Sean Leggett grounded into a fielder’s choice bringing in Michael Rasquin. In the third inning, Willix stranded a runner on third escaping another tight situation. He had five walks through three innings and clearly didn’t have his best stuff on the mound, but he would make up for it in a big way at the plate, which we will get to later on.
The momentum of the game shifted in the top of the fourth inning, as Wantagh finally got to Duff. Anthony Vano led the inning off with a double, which was followed by an intentional walk of Wantagh slugger Anthony Fontana. After bouncing back with a lineout and strikeout swinging, it looked like Duff would be able to settle back in, but it was not to be. Mason McLane came through with a clutch two RBI double down the left field line. Jake Castellano followed it up with an RBI single to drive in McLane. After another single followed, Garden City pulled Duff from the game with two outs in the fourth. Robert Lucano came in and set his tone immediately by striking out Ryan Murphy swinging.
Garden City got one back in the bottom of the fourth as Leggett yet again brought home Rasquin, this time with an RBI single.
McLane came in for relief of Willix to start the bottom of the fifth. It was not a strong first inning of work for McLane as he allowed the bases loaded with nobody out. Rasquin tied the game with a sac-fly to right field, but then McLane bounced back in a big way with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
Lucano and McLane were both sharp through the seventh inning pushing the game to extra innings. Lucano especially was dialed in facing 11 batters and only allowing a hit by pitch entering extra innings.
With one out and a runner on first in the top of the eighth inning, Patrick Willix delivered the big blow of the game hitting an absolute blast over the right-center field wall off Lucano. McLane would finish things off in the bottom half of the inning getting Andrew Zupicich to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
In a game where Willix was given the ball on the mound to send his school to their third consecutive county championship game, it was ultimately his power bat in the cleanup spot that would accomplish that goal for Wantagh. A jubilant Willix remarked after the game about his game-winning homerun, “he gave me a first pitch right down the middle and I knew that right away, right off the crack of the bat, that it was gone and it was sending our boys to the county championship.”
