Wantagh has conference title in sight

The Wantagh baseball team put itself in the driver’s seat for its first conference title since before the pandemic after taking a crucial series from second-place Plainedge last week.
The Warriors needed some late-inning heroics to take the first two games of the series before the Red Devils recovered to take the finale in extra innings. Wantagh (13-2-1, 9-2-1 Conference A1) holds a comfortable lead over Plainedge and needed to win just one of its final three games against last-place Floral Park this week to clinch the program’s first conference title since 2018.
“I think we’re finding a way to win,” coach Keith Sachs said. “I don’t think we’re playing our best ball yet and I don’t even know what our strength is. We keep finding different ways to succeed.”
Wantagh had a 5-2 lead heading into the fifth inning of the opener on April 29 before Plainedge rallied to tie it. But sophomore Ryan Tullo’s RBI double in the bottom of the frame broke the deadlock and senior Will Windisch pitched a strong 2⅓ innings of relief to finish off the 7-5 victory.
The Warriors had just one hit in the first four innings the next day before exploding for four runs in the fifth. Wantagh loaded the bases with one out and, after a popout by star hitter A.J. Bardi, junior Tommy Wunderlich blasted a grand slam over the right-center field wall to give the Warriors the only runs they would need in a 4-2 win.

“It was so nice to see [Bardi] not get the hit with the bases loaded, which is what happened all year,” Sachs explained. “And then to have Tommy hit the grand slam, which kinda made us say to A.J., ‘You don’t have to win every game for us.’ It was nice that someone else stepped up.”
Plainedge scored five times in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 deadlock in the finale.
Bardi, the catcher, has put together one of the best offensive seasons in program history by batting .622 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. He homered twice in the previous series against Valley Stream North and boasted a .702 on-base percentage and 1.133 slugging percentage through last weekend.
“He’s having a freak year,” Sachs said. “He’s always one of the best players on the field because even since ninth grade, he’s been a unanimous All-County selection by the coaches. So whatever his stats are, everybody recognizes him as one of the best players on the field.”
Senior outfielder Jack Tate is batting .453 with a homer and team-leading 17 RBIs, senior first baseman Paul Fontana is hitting exactly .400, and Wunderlich’s slam tied him with Bardi for second on the team with 15 RBIs, one better than junior shortstop Ryan Conigliaro and two more than third baseman Tullo.
The pitching has also been solid with junior Christian Danzilo (5-0, 2.51 ERA) and Tate (4-0, 0.73) leading the way. Windisch has two wins and three saves and junior Gavin Diegnan has saved two games.