THREEE PEEEAT!!!
Wantagh has done it, they are the
back-to-back-to-back Nassau County Class A Champions!FINAL: Wantagh 14 Division 3 pic.twitter.com/RaMeHbraeR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2018
Stop me if you’ve heard this before; the Wantagh Warriors are Nassau County Class A Champs.
On Memorial Day afternoon, Wantagh proved they were worthy of completing the three-peat as they defeated the Division Blue Dragons by a score of 14-3, highlighted by a nine-run 7th inning.
Although the Warriors won their third consecutive championship, this year was much different than the last two. In many ways, this game was over before it started. In 2016 and 2017, Wantagh needed three games to be crowned county champions. This year, they posted a clean sweep over Division, proving they were by far the most talented team in the county.
It took a few innings for the Wantagh offense to kick in, but their runs came in bulk today. Thanks to Anthony Vano and Pat Willix, Wantagh put up a three-spot in the top of the 3rd inning, giving them an early lead.
On the brink of elimination, the Division pitching staff let their nerves get the best of them. In the top half of the 5th inning, Wantagh tacked on to their lead as Vano scored on a wild pitch. This run provided to be the momentum they needed.
As imagined, championships don’t come perfect by any means. A few miscues in the 5th inning such as a wild pitch and a botched fielder’s choice with two outs let Division crawl back into the game, as the score was 4-3.
Enter Mason McLane.
The first batter McLane faced, he plunked. However, he was able to stay calm and get Wantagh out of the inning while maintaining the lead. McLane recorded the final seven outs of the game, and was awarded with the save.
“I just had to throw strikes and hope for the best. We have a great infield, we don’t make too many errors, I trusted my infield and I was very happy that they were able to make the plays,” said McLane.
Wantagh tacked on another run in the top half of the 6th, right before the offensive explosion came.
To begin the 7th inning, sophomore Nick O’Connor came off the bench with a runner out and was asked to bunt. He failed to bunt twice, but drove in the run anyway. This started the nine-run 7th inning. Jake Castellano, Joe Parone and Anthony Fontana were a few of the many Warriors that contributed to the hit parade in the last inning. In the blink of an eye, Wantagh led 14-3 and the Division crowd vanished.
Cue the dog pile, cue the “circus,” cue the celebration, the Warriors are champions yet again.
“We’ve worked so hard to achieve our goals and if you were to ask me three years ago if we would’ve done this, I would’ve told you hell no,” said Anthony Fontana. “We had a great game today, and took home the chip for our town,” he added.
Fontana and Anthony D’Onofrio who were both key pieces in all three county championships, expressed their emotions and friendship they’ve had together over the years.
“My boy here (Fontana), we worked so hard together, they’re all my boys we all worked really hard, we all knew we were going to get here and do what we did, it was a great accomplishment,” said D’Onofrio.
Although Wantagh has won three consecutive county championships, their quest for revenge begins on Saturday as they have their goals set on a state championship. The back-to-back-to-back champions will face the Class A Suffolk County Champions, Saturday, 4pm at St. Joseph’s. They will face either Shoreham-Wading River or Rocky Point, they will find out as soon as tomorrow if Rocky Point seals the deal.
