by Nicholas DiLapi
James Alonso strikes out 3 in the bottom of the seventh! The Massapequa Chiefs are your Nassau County Class AAA Champions! pic.twitter.com/D3wJIHUo6J
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 30, 2026
In what has become an annual tradition – with the exception of 2024 – Massapequa has claimed their spot as Nassau AAA Champions.
Friday was game 2 of the Nassau County Class AAA Championship, the Massapequa Chiefs faced off against the Port Washington Vikings. After Massapequa took game 1 of the series on Thursday, this was a win-or-go-home game for Port Washington.
Port Washington started sharp, with starting pitcher Jake Wilber striking out 2 batters and stranding runners at 2nd and 3rd in the top of the first.
Then, Wilber, in the leadoff spot, continued strong play with a home run to give the Vikings a quick 1-0 lead. A sacrifice fly from Leo Schindler then followed shortly after to give Port Washington a 2-0 lead heading into the second inning.
Then, in the third inning, Wilber’s dominance seemed to be continuing, with 2 outs he walked a batter and let up a base hit. Then he struck out Mikey Smar, but the pitch was dropped and Smar reached safely to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Joe Genova seemed to be the third out until an error off of a glove brought in 2 runs to tie the game.
Wilber then walked another batter to load the bases once again, and John Neary delivered a 2 run single to give the Chiefs a 4-2 lead after 3 innings.
While the Chiefs offense was doing their job, so was their pitcher, Jack Scannapieco, who despite allowing 2 runs in the first inning, dominated for the remainder of his outing.
“After letting that home run on the first batter and then hitting the next, it was a lot of pressure and I was a little nervous,” said Scannapieco. “I bounced back and got a couple of outs. The next inning three strikeouts and I felt great after that.”
Scannapieco retired the first 2 batters of the fourth inning, but then walked the next 2 batters, leading to Sal Apap coming in relief and getting a strike out to retire the side.
“Mixing up my pitches was big for me today and staying ahead in counts,” said Apap, who contributed massively in relief for Massapequa.
Koki Maezawa then entered the game in the top of the fifth for Port Washington, and after loading the bases, he got out of the jam with a strike out to keep the game at 4-2 heading into the second half of the fifth.
Massapequa felt that a 2-run lead wasn’t enough, so in the first half of the sixth inning, they loaded up the bases, and Gavin Weiss brought Anthony DiNello home on a RBI walk, to extend the lead to 5-3.
Down 3 runs with just 5 outs remaining, Maddox Garcia reached base on a walk, and then James Alonso came in relief for Massapequa, replacing Apap. Jake Wilber approached the plate and ripped a RBI double to cut the deficit back to 2 runs, marking his second RBI of the night. However, Alonso would retire the side, limiting the damage.
Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Port Washington had a runner reach safely off an error, with a rally possible. Alonso would then strike out the 3 of the next 4 batters, clinching a second straight county championship and reserving their spot in the Long Island Championship for Class AAA.
The Chiefs aren’t content, however. They have higher goals.
“We want to get back to states and this is the first step,” said Apap.
The Massapequa Chiefs will face off in the Long Island Class AAA Championship against either Conntequot or Commack, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 6th, at Middle Country Athletic Complex.