Wantagh edges Kennedy for Class A title

An arm injury suffered five innings into the Nassau Class A baseball playoffs ended Wantagh senior ace Will O’Brien’s contributions on the mound this spring, but he never stopped swinging.

O’Brien’s bases-loaded single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the seventh-seeded Warriors a 3-2 walk-off victory over No. 11 Kennedy in the deciding game of the best-of-three county championship series at Farmingdale State College on June 1. O’Brien drilled a 2-2 pitch to right to bring home junior Charlie Interrante with the title-clinching run.

“It’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” said O’Brien, who went 6-for-10 in the series. “I just went with the pitch and drove it the other way. Once I saw it get through the infield, I tossed my helmet in the air and waited for my teammates to pile on.”

Kennedy, which eliminated top-seeded Carey and No. 3 Seaford on the way to its first-ever appearance in the finals, and stayed alive with a 1-0 walk-off win over Wantagh in Game 2 the previous night on senior Greg Goeller’s seventh-inning single, came within two outs of winning it all.

“It was an incredible series,” Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said. “Both teams played exceptional baseball and battled hard for 23 innings. It’s fun when every pitch, every at-bat and every baserunner means so much.”

The Cougars took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh on junior Frank Bruno’s RBI triple, but couldn’t shut the door. The Warriors put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the seventh and forced extra innings when junior Jimmy Joyce, who pitched them to a 3-1 victory in the series opener on May 28, drove in junior pinch runner Steve Forman, who entered the game after junior John Conroy’s leadoff single, on a groundout to second.

“Striking out wasn’t an option,” said Joyce, who fanned six, all looking, in three innings of relief to earn the win. “I knew I had to put the ball in play and keep the game going.”

Joyce left Goeller stranded at second base in eighth and struck out the side in a perfect ninth. Then, in the home half of the ninth, Interrante belted a triple to left with one out, essentially loading the bases. “I told O’Brien to get his batting helmet on because he was up next,” Sachs said. “He had no idea what I meant, but I knew they were putting the next two guys on.”

Kennedy coach Eric Passman called for intentional walks to sophomore leadoff batter Anthony D’Onofrio and Joyce to set up a force at home. “It’s picking your poison,” Passman said. “D’Onofrio, Joyce and O’Brien are all excellent contact hitters. You just look to play the odds and also get a little lucky at that point.

“A legitimate hit beat us,” he added. “Both teams played so well. Two outs away from a county title; I’d sign up for that tomorrow. No Kennedy team got as far as this one did. I can’t say enough about how proud I am of our kids. We made an amazing run and take our hats off to Wantagh.”

Wantagh junior Brendan Haas, who was told the morning of the game he’d get the start, settled down nicely after a rocky first inning that saw Kennedy take a 1-0 lead on senior Michael Schwartz’s RBI single. Haas worked into the seventh and scattered seven hits, walked none and struck out five.

“Brendan did exactly what we needed him to do,” said O’Brien, who registered six regular-season wins and beat Valley Stream South in the first round of the playoffs. “He stepped up and kept us in the game on a big stage.”

After winning their first county championship since 2010, the Warriors (23-5) added the Long Island Class A crown last Saturday behind the arm of senior Bobby Hegarty, who pitched a one-hit gem to beat Mount Sinai, 3-1, at the PAL Complext in Holtsville. He threw only 71 pitches; 54 for strikes.

Wantagh’s season continues this Saturday at Union-Endicott High School in the Class A state Final Four. The championship game is set for 4 p.m.