Saturday, November 8, 2025
On the heels of a near county championship season, Wantagh softball has come out of the gates strong in 2025 seeking another late spring run.
Wantagh graduated five starters from last year’s 17-5 team that fell to Seaford in the Class A championship series, but began the new season with five straight wins and a 5-1-1 start bolstered by some strong newcomers. The Warriors are coming off an 8-8 tie with Conference I foe Syosset in a non-league game last Friday called in the seventh inning due to rain.
“Our youth is pulling their weight beyond what I could have predicted,” said longtime Wantagh coach Christine Moran. “We thought initially it was going to be much more of a rebuilding season”
Senior center fielder Emma Priest is once again the team’s offensive leader after a big junior season in which she batted .472 with 20 RBIs. The Adelphi-bound Priest knocked in three runs in Wantagh’s dominating 12-0 win against Bethpage on April 4.
The Warriors also returned ace sophomore pitcher Lucy Olore, who recorded 165 strikeouts as a freshman and was Conference II pitcher of the year. Olore tossed a three-hitter with five strikeouts in Wantagh’s 7-1 victory at Glen Cove on April 1.
“She is clutch,” Moran said of Olore, who also shined at the plate last year with a .303 batting average. “She is really coming along for a 10th grader.”
Sophomore Gianna Muscarnera adds to the pitching depth as the number two pitcher behind Olore. Muscarnera threw a two-hitter with five strikeouts in the Bethpage win.
Mackenzie Hayes brings senior leadership to the table as the starting left fielder after playing a key role in last year’s run to the county finals. Hayes, who has been on varsity since eighth grade, registered a double with two RBIs in Wantagh’s 6-3 win at Mepham on March 28.
The middle infield has seen some strong new additions this spring between freshman shortstop Savannah Gandini and eighth grade second baseman Megan Martone, who provides a spark in the lineup as a leadoff slap hitter. Moran said sophomore Haylie Kissinger is also making big strides this season in her third season on varsity.
“It literally can be anybody at any moment, which has been really cool to see,” said Moran of how many players are stepping up game-to-game. “Even kids coming off the bench have been huge.”
Wantagh will host defending Conference III champion Carle Place in a crossover game Thursday at 11 a.m. before visiting local rival Seaford on April 22 in a rematch of last year’s county championship.
Moran said for the returning players, last year’s finals loss is motivation fuel but they remain focused on not looking too far ahead.
“The long term goal is to get back to that, but we're more about game day goals and practice day goals now,” Moran said. “It may fuel them but they don’t let on to it.”
