Thursday, October 1, 2026
Wantagh senior pitcher Dominick Cusamano entered Sunday’s winner-take-all Nassau Class A baseball finals game against Seaford determined to not have it be the last time he would take the mound in his high school career.
Cusamano delivered under the brought lights tossing 6 ⅓ innings with five strikeouts to propel top-seeded Wantagh to a 6-1 win in game three of the county championship series against the Warriors’ neighboring rival at Farmingdale State College.
“I was crying on the way here because this game and this team means everything to me,” Cusamano said. “I enjoy every day with this team.”
The stellar pitching of Cusamano assured that he would get at least another four days with his teammates with the win advancing Wantagh (23-4) into the Long Island Class A finals on Thursday against Sayville at Middle Country Athletic Complex in Selden at 4:30 pm. It marked Wantagh’s first county title since 2018.
Wantagh gave Cusamano all the run support he needed in the second inning starting with Frank McNally drawing a bases loaded walk that scored Ryan Tullo. The Warriors extended the lead when Cole Spinelli and Michael Avitabile scored on an error from a hard grounder off the bat of Cusumano.
After third-seeded Seaford (19-10) got on the scoreboard with a Luke Walsh RBI single in the top of the third, the Warriors answered the bell in their half of the inning on an infield single by Avitable that scored Tallo.
Wantagh added two insurance runs in the sixth on a Robert Terrana pinch-hit RBI triple followed by an RBI single from Cascino that made it 6-1.
Christian Danzilo came out of the bullpen in the seventh inning and set off the Wantagh celebration by inducing a game-ending double play to shortstop Ryan Conigliaro who stepped on second and tossed to first.
“These kids deserve to win with the way they work, the way they show up in the off season and the way they pull for each other,” said longtime Wantagh head coach Keith Sachs. “They're the best kids on and off the field and I'm glad they got to experience this.”
Wantagh was nearly crowned champions in the second game of the series last Friday but Vikings tied it in the bottom of the seventh on Dylan Alt’s sac fly that brought home Patrick Cappetti and then won it 2-1 in the ninth with nobody out when Alt singled home Finn Curry, who drew a leadoff walk.
“That’s what Dylan does,” Seaford coach Mike Milano said of Alt. “I think once this team got to extra innings in the playoffs, they’ve been vampires. It’s the third series in a row these kids had their backs against the wall and came back to win.”
Alt was also instrumental in getting Seaford on the board in the bottom of the fourth against Wantagh starting pitcher Gavin Diegnan, who has been lights-out all spring. Alt singled and scored on Jordan Cassuto’s sac fly to cut the Warriors’ lead in half.
Wantagh scored single runs in the first and third off Seaford ace Thomas Apollo, who fired Game 2 shutout gems against Clarke and Plainedge. Cole Spinelli drove in Diegnan with the first run and in the first and it was 2-0 in the third after Tullo knocked in Conigliaro.
Wantagh rolled in the series opener May 29, 6-1, behind the arm of Christian Danzilo, who allowed just two hits and fanned seven. Six different Warriors crossed the plate.
“That’s pretty much how we’re built,” Sachs said. “We get contributions from everyone.”
