by Trevor Dugan
For the first time since 2019, Sayville has won the Class A Long Island Championship!
FINAL: Sayville 1 – Wantagh 0 pic.twitter.com/vwbRbYnZap
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 5, 2025
For the first time since 2019 the Sayville Golden Flashes have won the Class A Long Island Championship.
Sayville squared off against Wantagh on Thursday afternoon at Middle Country Athletic Complex. Wantagh started Oneonta-commit Christian Danzilo on the mound for the championship matchup, while Andrew Law got the nod for Sayville.
It was a short outing for Law, as he was pulled in the first inning after walking the first two batters he faced. Law would remain in the game as Sayville’s three hitter, but the sophomore Joseph Strining took over in relief, inheriting two base runners with no outs in the top of the first.
Despite the sticky situation he found himself in, Strining was able to force a fielder’s choice groundout, then a 6-3 double play to escape the inning unscathed and hand things off to the Sayville offense.
Sayville wasted no time getting things started. A leadoff walk by freshman Aidan Devane was followed by a single up the middle by Senior Kyle Messina, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Runners were on the corners after a fielder’s choice when catcher Shane Meehan strode to the plate and came through with a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Devane to give Sayville an early 1-0 lead.
The first run of this championship matchup comes via a sac fly off the bat of Sayville catcher Shane Meehan
Sayville 1 – Wantagh 0
End first pic.twitter.com/qIUzWFxKM9— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 5, 2025
Strining went back to work in the second and delivered a shutdown inning thanks to three groundouts. The sophomore RHP did an excellent job of limiting sharp contact throughout his four innings pitched, allowing just three hits, one of which was an infield single, to go along with two strikeouts and no walks.
The same can be said for Wantagh SP Danzilo, who was lights out after a tumultuous first inning. He went the distance for the Warriors, pitching 6.0 innings of two hit ball, allowing the only run of the game on Meehan’s aforementioned sacrifice fly in the first. He recorded four strikeouts along with two walks.
Both pitchers settled in following the first inning, as they traded scoreless frames in the second and third. It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Wantagh threatened once again.
After a strikeout to start the inning, back-to-back singles by Cole Spinelli and Mike Avitabile gave the warriors a pair of base runners with just one out. Facing another jam, Sayville RHP Strining got opposing pitcher Danzilo to pop up to short, before ringing up his second strikeout of the inning to preserve the Golden Flashes’ narrow 1-0 lead.
Following another scoreless inning by Danzilo, Sayville brought in the Senior Tyler Brown in relief of Strining. He came in throwing heat straight away, and sat down three straight Warriors in a very quick top of the fifth.
Danzilo continued to shut down the Sayville offense, pitching a scoreless fifth and sixth inning and giving his offense chance after chance to tie things at one. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Sayville’s pitchers were just as locked in, and there was no offense to be found in a game that saw just five total hits between the two county champions.
Brown proved to be untouchable in his three innings of work. He struck out one batter and allowed no hits and no walks, getting the final batter of the game to ground out to shortstop and earn a rare three inning save.
Following the final out, Brown tossed his glove high in the air as the crowd erupted behind him and the celebration commenced. The Sayville players spilled out of their dugout and sprinted in from their positions, mobbing each other in the infield in a rabid dogpile of pure excitement. For the first time since 2019, the Sayville Golden Flashes are the Class A Long Island Champions.
Sayville will return to action Saturday evening at 7:00 P.M, once again at Middle Country Athletic Complex, as they take on Marlboro Central in the NYS Regional Championship.
