Wantagh seeks playoff push

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Wantagh’s baseball season failed to get off to the start longtime coach Keith Sachs was looking for, but the Warriors still have plenty of games left to make a playoff push.

After a season-opening 3-0 victory against Kennedy on April 6, Wantagh dropped its next four games before getting back on the winning track with a 3-0 triumph against Garden City on April 16. Wantagh (2-4) entered the week fifth in the Nassau Conference A-1 standings and one spot out of the league’s fourth and final postseason spot.

“One or two runs or a couple hits and we’d be right in the mix,” said Sachs, whose team has been competitive in each of its defeats. “Hopefully we can get into the playoffs and then anything can happen.”

While the Wantagh bats have been quiet to start the season, starting pitchers Will O’Brien and Diego Pastrana have kept the Warriors in each game. Pastrana struck out 13 batters in a four-hitter to win Wantagh’s opening game while O’Brien tossed a one-hitter in last Thursday’s victory. O’Brien also struck out 15 batters in Wantagh’s 3-2 extra inning loss at Kennedy on April 9.

“You couldn’t have been more dominant than he was in that game and not get the win,” Sachs said of O’Brien.

Seniors Gehrig Montoro and Mike Paradiso have delivered some key hits early. Sachs has also been impressed with the defense displayed by his left-side infield of shortstop Anthony Denofrio and third baseman Aniello Infante.

“We’ve been pretty solid defensively,” said Sachs, a former standout at Calhoun High School who played college baseball at Hofstra in the late 80s. “We haven’t made too many errors.”

During Wantagh’s April vacation, the Warriors embarked on a four-day journey to Philadelphia and Baltimore. The traditional trip that Sachs started 20 years ago is designed to foster camaraderie among teammates on and off the field. The team took in Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies games during the overnight trip down the Mid-Atlantic.

“That has always been a big part of our program,” Sachs said of the spring break travels with his team. “It’s great for bonding.”

Wantagh faces Jericho in a three-game series this week before taking on local rival Seaford in a non-league game Saturday under the lights at Farmingdale State College for a 7 p.m. first pitch.

The Warriors will then have nine Conference A-1 games remaining versus Sewanhaka, Carey and New Hyde Park in a final push to receive one of the league’s four playoff spots. Sachs, who guided Wantagh to the a state championship in 1998 and the 2010 Class A Long Island title, is used to achieving success and said if the Warriors can find their way into the playoffs, another spring run is within reach.

“We have high expectations and we aren’t going to give up on that,” Sachs said. “We just need to execute a little better.”