Wantagh baseball reaches double-digit wins

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This spring presented plenty of challenges for Wantagh’s baseball program.

Not only did a handful of Warriors and coach Keith Sachs go two weeks before focusing their full attention on the diamond thanks to winning a county championship in football, but the entire roster was new compared to the previous (2019) season.

“Anything anyone did this year was a varsity first,” Sachs said. “Missing last season was tough. We had no sophomores up two years ago, so our entire roster is made up of first-time varsity players. They’ve been through a lot and to their credit they’ve gotten better every day.”

Sachs said the first two weeks of baseball overlapped with football, creating long days of practice for himself and many kids. “We’d start baseball practice around 2:30 and then football practice at 5,” he explained. “We got the minimum number of practices needed before we jumped right into games. There’s not a single kid on the roster I coached before and we had no scrimmages to help us get ready. It’s still affecting us to some degree.”

Despite all of the trials and tribulations, the Warriors endured only one rough patch and concluded the regular season June 9 with a record of 10-6 in Conference IV after losing to North Shore. Wantagh opened with seven consecutive victories, including two-game sweeps of Lynbrook, Floral Park and Valley Stream North.

With the exception of two games against Plainedge, Wantagh’s pitching has been strong. Senior Shaun Joyce is 3-2, junior Andrew Bonnano is 4-1 with a few saves, and sophomore Tim Hennig is 3-2.

Bonnano plays third base on non-pitching days and is a batting over .300 at the plate. Joyce features a fastball and cutter and is a tremendous competitor, Sachs noted. Hennig, who can play second base, shortstop and third base, is getting it done with his arm and bat. “He’s pitching well and hitting bullets,” Sachs said. Hennig is the team’s leading hitter with an average over .500.

Freshman AJ Bardi is leading off and raking to the tune of .500 as well. He started the year at second base but recently moved to catcher. Sachs said Bardi would have played for the JV team had the 2020 season not been eliminated by the pandemic. “He’s very talented and ahead of the scale,” Sachs said. “The ball jumps off his bat and he’s got an outstanding arm.”

Senior Joe Fontana and junior Alex Bardi share responsibilities at first base and anchor the offense in the fourth and fifth spots. Senior Frank Peretti is enjoying a solid two-way season at shortstop and at the plate (.333), while seniors Kenny Spratt in center and Sean Conigliaro in right lead the outfield.

The most exciting regular-season game came June 7 when the Warriors earned a 7-6 walk-off victory over North Shore. Hennig drove in the tying run with a double and scored the winner.