The first word that comes to mind when discussing Wantagh is dynasty.
As everyone should know, Wantagh has won three consecutive Class A Long Island Championships. They not only demoralized every one of their opponent’s dreams in the making, but now go down in Long Island history as one of the most dominant teams to ever do it.
Aside from the 2016 State Championship and the three Long Island Championships, Wantagh portrays an incomparable resume among that three year period. The core of these championship teams were made up of star ballplayers who went on to play baseball at the next level.
Winning the most prestigious award in Nassau County is just one of the awards they took home in back-to-back seasons. In 2017, Jimmy Joyce (Hofstra) won the Diamond Award for best hitter, batting .495 with six home runs and 39 RBI. 2018 presented another Diamond Award winner in Anthony D’Onofrio (Hofstra), who batted .512 with five home runs and 31 RBI.
Aside from D’Onofrio graduating last year, the Warriors must also replace All-State Anthony Fontana (Furman), Pat Willix (Molloy) and seven other starters. Considering their conference is stacked this season, this may be very challenging.
In total, Wantagh returns only one starter. Although they will be a completely new team this year, Head Coach Keith Sachs stated the goals for this team will stay the same.
“Our goals for the program never change.
1) Make playoffs, which we have in 25 consecutive seasons since I started in 1994.
2) Try and win the league which sets you up in a good position for playoffs. We have done that 17 times in the past 25 years.
3) Make a playoff run.”
Clearly, this has been a recipe success for Coach Sachs over the years.
“It will be tough to win the league this year but it’s next man up. Our goals won’t change but the inexperience is a lot,” said Coach Sachs. “Our kids work so hard to step in,” he added.
The only returning starter from 2018 is (SS/P) Mason McLane. As a junior, Mason was a key piece in winning the Long Island championship and was named All-Conference as a result.
“Baseball is not about one player and we will be filling every other spot,” said Coach Sachs.
On the mound, Wantagh has new arms that must step up for them this season. McLane will be key for their pitching staff this season, along with Ethan Herman and Matt Saborio. Last year, Herman ate a ton of innings in relief. He will seek to transition his success into the starting rotation. Saborio was a JV standout last year, and is looking to make the jump to varsity this season. We have seen first-year arms make an impact for Wantagh in the past, so don’t be surprised if they do it again.
Handling this young pitching staff behind the plate will be Dylan Scott. Last year, he was a key substitute and has learned from experienced catchers such as two-time Long Island champion Trevor Fagan (Sacred Heart).
Although these young players haven’t had much on the field experience, they have learned from one of the most successful groups in Long Island history. John Bednor, Ray Rathgaber and Spencer Gustafson will be key starters this season. They were all backups for stars in the lineup last year, so expect them to step up.
Wantagh also contains players who were called up to playoffs from JV last year that witnessed a championship. These individuals include John Jay Devito, Nick O’Connor, Peter DelGais and Rich Russo. They are all expected to have an impact as well.
Wantagh’s conference consists of the toughest competition Class A. Their 2019 schedule includes Division, North Shore, Valley Stream North, Lynbrook and Floral Park. Last season, Wantagh eliminated Division and North Shore from the playoffs. Expect these two teams to play with a sense of vengeance.
The defending Long Island champions open up their season on April 8th against a senior stacked North Shore team. 2019 will be a different for Wantagh as far as talent, but their goals remain the same. It’s a tough year to know or predict.
