Wantagh moves into semifinals

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It’s commonly thought that the toughest high school baseball title to win in the state of New York is the Nassau County Class A championship. With 34 teams vying for county supremacy, and the competition fierce, the last team standing will certainly have proved its mettle.

For the past two seasons, no team has been stronger on the diamond than Wantagh. The Warriors won a state title in 2016, finished a game shy of a repeat in 2017, and now they’re back seeking their third consecutive Nassau crown.

With last Sunday afternoon’s dramatic, come-from-behind 4-3 victory over North Shore, the top-seeded Warriors advanced to the Class A semifinals. Junior Mason McLane singled home Anthony Fontana from third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh to give Wantagh the walk-off win. McLane pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn his second win of the season.

The Warriors will meet a familiar foe, Garden City, in the best-of-three semifinals. The Trojans gave Wantagh all it could handle before losing 4-2 in the third and deciding game of last season’s county championship series. Results of the semifinal series weren’t available at press time.

Head coach Keith Sachs liked how his team is playing entering the Garden City series. “We’re playing good ball, so I like our chances in any three-game series,” Sachs said. “Garden City is always tough. They’re fundamentally sound, and make you earn your runs. We both went 3-0 in pool play. This tournament is as tough as it gets. You play quality teams, one after the other.”

The Warriors trailed 3-1 when Fontana, who is batting over .450 for the season, came to the plate with two men aboard in the bottom of the fifth. Fontana crushed a ball off the top of the fence to plate both runners and tie the score. He started off the bottom of the seventh with his third hit of the day. Wantagh, the Conference A-2 champions and winners of nine straight, improved to 19-2.

Fontana, a four-year varsity performer who is 17-1 on the mound over the past two seasons, leads a solid pitching staff. Senior southpaw Patrick Willex is 5-0 and has hit three home runs while batting .420 out of the cleanup spot. 

The top of the Wantagh batting order is as good as it gets. Senior Anthony D’Onofrio is hitting .526 with 40 hits, 20 stolen bases, and 35 runs scored. He’s also gone deep four times. Anthony Vano is the perfect complement out of the two hole. Vano is the prototypical second place hitter, often hitting with D’Onofrio on the move.

“When you reach this level it’s usually not about hitting,” Sachs said. “Winning in the playoffs comes down to pitching, manufacturing runs, and playing smart baseball.”