Wantagh repeats as county baseball champs

A walk, bunt single, infield dribbler for a hit and a misplayed outfield fly resulting in two runs would rattle most pitchers, especially in the first inning on a championship stage.

Not Wantagh’s Brendan Haas.

The senior southpaw blanked fourth-seeded Garden City over the final six innings and the Warriors scored twice in the fourth and sixth to repeat as Nassau Class A baseball champs with a 4-2 victory in the third and deciding game of the finals on May 30 at SUNY-Old Westbury.

“I knew as long as I kept the game close, we’d get the offense going and find a way to win,” said Haas, who started Game 3 of the 2016 county title series against Kennedy and pitched seven strong innings and took a no-decision. “Everyone was so pumped once we got the lead,” he added. “This feels just as good as last year.”

Ninth-seeded Wantagh (22-5, including 8-1 in the playoffs) managed just two hits over the first three innings against Garden City starter Kevin McNiff but got the bats going in the fourth and chased him one out into the fifth. Senior catcher Trevor Fagan got the Warriors on the board when he blasted a homer over the fence in left leading off the fourth, cutting the margin to 2-1. Junior Patrick Willix followed with a single and was replaced on the bases by senior Steven Forman, who stole second with two outs and scored the tying run on junior Jake Castellano’s first of two doubles on the day.

“A lot of things happened early in the game where the kids could’ve hung their heads,” Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said. “They just stayed positive and kept plugging away. Brendan pitched tremendous and we came up with some big hits.”

The Warriors had runners on first and second with one out in the fifth when Eric Wortmann, Garden City’s ace who won five regular-season games and took a tough 3-2 loss in Game 1 of the finals, thanks to the pitching and hitting of Wantagh junior Anthony Fontana, relieved McNiff and worked out of a jam.

With the first pitch of the top of the sixth, however, Wortmann hit senior Charles Interrante and the winning rally was on. Castellano doubled, putting runners on second and third, and with one out senior Anthony D’Onofrio ripped a single to put the Warriors ahead to stay. One pitch later, senior John Conroy executed a perfect squeeze bunt to bring home Castellano with an insurance run.

“They were a little flustered after we went took the lead so it was a good time to squeeze,” Sachs said. 

Working with a lead for the first time, Haas retired Garden City in order in the sixth and got routine pop-outs to second, left and center in the seventh after the leadoff batter reached on an error. 

“Brendan is very clutch,” Fagan said of Haas, who helped eliminate Division with a gem on May 24. “He did the same thing last year.”