Wantagh
Where Are They Now Powered by The BK7 Brand: Chris Smith
“When you have Scott Boras calling you up telling you that you’re a first round pick, you take it!” Wantagh grad Chris Smith was not just one of the best players on Long Island during his magical ride of a senior season in 1998, but his took his game up a notch at Florida State University, where he became an All-American OF with a cannon of a left arm that generated 98 MPH heaters – and that’s before every team had someone sitting in the mid 90s. Smith was the rare two-way player that could thrive on either side of the ball, but once he showcased upper 90s heater against the University of Miami, it became clear the best path to multimillionaire status was on the mound. He made the controversial and difficult decision to leave Florida State after playing in back-to-back College World Series...
Ken Kortright State Farm Game of the Week: Calhoun’s Bats Explode for 14 Runs, Advance to Nassau A Final Four
Final: Calhoun 14, Wantagh 0 (5 innings) WP: Aaron Small Charlie Imhof: 3-for-4, HR Brian Sanchez and Matt Kalfas: 2 hits, 2 RBIs each Calhoun improves to 22-1 pic.twitter.com/DwuAG8xSUp — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 19, 2023 Relentless. That’s the only way to describe Calhoun’s offensive attack. The reigning Class A Long Island Champs have bludgeoned their way to a 22-1 overall record to start the season. They faced one of the best programs on LI today, Wantagh, but they treated them as they have treated every team they’ve faced this season and that’s by putting up runs early and often. Calhoun sent LHP Aaron Small to the mound against Wantagh. He was close to flawless as he pitched the five inning complete game, allowing just a walk in the first innin...
GAME RECAP: Colin Crispyn, Tim Hennig Combine for 11 Ks in 2-1 Win for Wantagh
Final: Wantagh 2, North Shore 1 WP: Colin Crispyn (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 6 Ks) Wantagh improves to 12-3 pic.twitter.com/lsEYrfeXWo — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 5, 2023 Wantagh did not qualify for the postseason last year for the first time since 1994. That one-year hiatus was a brief one as the Warriors have came storming back and are now 12-3 to begin the 2023 season. They were able to take a critical series against North Shore today by the score of 2-1 – as they displayed some of the key components to Wantagh baseball. They did face a tall order in facing hard-throwing southpaw Garret Gates on the road – and he showed what he was capable of with 9 strikeouts and just one hit allowed over 6.1 innings, but they were able to grind out at bats, draw 6 walks and ulti...
GAME RECAP: Tim Hennig Fires Five Shutout Innings, Wantagh Defeats Island Trees
by Eddie Lennon Wantagh’s Tim Hennig is the Axcess Baseball Player of the Game powered by @GCsports. He got the win over Island Trees, 8-3, tossing 5 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. pic.twitter.com/vbHwd4Se1k — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 17, 2023 Going into this season, Wantagh had one goal: to make the playoffs. Last season was the first time they missed the playoffs since 1994. Their 8-3 win over Island Trees definitely helps them work toward their goal. Binghamton-commit Tim Hennig was spectacular on the mound for Wantagh. He went five scoreless innings, striking out five and only allowing five hits. The Wantagh infield did turn two double plays to help Hennig hold the lead. Paul Fontana pitched the last two innings to seal with win for Wantagh. B/2- Tom Wunderlich ...
Wantagh Looking to Bounce Back After Down Season
by Andy Smith Wantagh had a down year by their standards The consistently successful program missed the playoffs for the first time since 1994. Head Coach Keith Sachs, who has been the head coach of the baseball team for over 28 years reflected on the 2022 campaign. “It was the perfect storm. A very tough league, a lot of tough losses. We learned a lot.” Sachs, a former collegiate athlete at Hofstra elaborated, “We do not have to be a championship caliber team to have a good experience. The kids still grew and enjoyed themselves. They still cried during the last game.” Wantagh finished the season on a high note defeating Clarke during the final game of the year. Wantagh will be without Andrew Bonanno, who played a major role throughout his time on the team. The recent graduate starte...
Where Are They Now Powered by the BK7 Brand: Chris Smith
“When you have Scott Boras calling you up telling you that you’re a first round pick, you take it!” Wantagh grad Chris Smith was not just one of the best players on Long Island during his magical ride of a senior season in 1998, but his took his game up a notch at Florida State University, where he became an All-American OF with a cannon of a left arm that generated 98 MPH heaters – and that’s before every team had someone sitting in the mid 90s. Smith was the rare two-way player that could thrive on either side of the ball, but once he showcased upper 90s heater against the University of Miami, it became clear the best path to multimillionaire status was on the mound. He made the controversial and difficult decision to leave Florida State after playing in bac...
Q & A With Aidan Bardi
Almost three years to do the day, we did a feature story on a young player in the Wantagh district who put himself on the map by crushing 18 home runs in Cooperstown – and 73 home runs over the course of the season overall. It was met with skepticism by some in the Long Island baseball community, who questioned the accuracy of the information. Those same people are left with nothing to complain about after watching the performance of that same young player since that time. Aidan Bardi, now entering his junior year at Wantagh HS, recently announced his verbal commitment to the University of Maine. Bardi has been a no-brainer Division-I player in my eyes since I did that story on him and watched his aggressive swing and flawless mechanics. Bardi was one of the few freshman in Keith Sac...
Wantagh Returns Talented Roster Ready to Compete in Nassau A4
by Mike Anderson THEY HAVE DONE IT AGAIN. Wantagh completes the three-peat as Class A Long Island Champions! FINAL: Wantagh 4 Rocky Point 2 WP – Anthony Fontana (Complete Game) pic.twitter.com/9HcJj90Tin — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 2, 2018 One of the premier baseball programs on Long Island will look to have another great year, as Wantagh High School is ready to compete again. Last year’s team was 11-7 overall and 10-6 in league play, according to MaxPreps. Last season, their team started off 7-0, but was hurt at times by Covid-19 and finished the season losing to Bethpage. However, they were led by several solid players to help continue the program’s winning traditions in 2021. The players they have returning will give them a chance to keep it up this year as well. L...
Recap of Nassau County Semifinals
Yesterday was Game 1 of the Nassau County semifinals for each Conference. I won’t say it was filled with thrilling games (because three of them were run-rules), but it was certainly filled with outstanding individual performances. I bounced around like a mad man from Massapequa to Island Trees to Division. It took until my third stop to find a competitive game so I’m thankful I continued to search. Here’s a breakdown of each: Massapequa 10, Oceanside 0 Carter DeSousa with a walk-off single as Massapequa wins via run-rule 10-0 over Oceanside in Game 1 of the Nassau Conference I semifinals. They’ll be back at it tomorrow for Game 2 pic.twitter.com/zbgu3SYQlc — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 12, 2021 This one was over in the first inning when Massapequa knoc...
Bethpage Improves to 12-1 With Road Win Against Wantagh
Final: Bethpage 7, Wantagh 2 WP: James Martin Conor Burns and Patrick Dalton had 2 RBI Bethpage is 12-1 pic.twitter.com/CO61NWe8oc — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2021 Bethpage felt that they had one of the more talented teams entering the 2020 season – coming off a 14-inning loss against Division in the Class A semifinals – they returned much of that core and had many promising young players. Despite the cancellation of the season, they remain one of the top teams in the county and proved that with a 7-2 road win over perennial powerhouse Wantagh on Thursday. “We’ve been pitching well all year,” said Head Coach Rob Fisher. “We’ve been attacking hitters – we’re doing a good job on the mound, so I’m happy the way my ...
Wantagh Taking On a New Look in 2021
From 2016-2018, Wantagh was the epitome of a team. Each year they went into the postseason with detractors, and each time they came out as the last team standing – not just in the loaded Nassau Class A, but on Long Island. They even captured the State Championship in 2016. Things didn’t go that way in 2019 – after they graduated five All-State players in a three-year span, they featured a much less experienced roster and it showed in the first-round of the playoffs in a 3-2 loss to Mepham. They entered 2020 with a chip on their shoulder and Sachs described it as a “loaded team” with nine players that are now playing in college with three Division-II players in Nick O’Connor (St. Thomas Aquinas), JJ Devito (Anderson) and Matt Saborio (Molloy). With the season cancelled, Sa...
Who Was The Best Team of The 2010s?
When it comes to being considered the best–the bar is set high. Over the course of the past 10 seasons, there have been undefeated seasons, there have been back-to-back state champs, there have been pitching staffs loaded with Division-I talent and pro pitchers. But there can only be one team considered the best. I have watched a lot of baseball, but I didn’t trust my own instinct so I solicited the help of some trusted sources to put together my definitive list of the best teams of the decade. To make it a bit easier, we narrowed it down to teams that have won a Long Island Championship, because plenty of talented teams have made it to the finish line only to come up short. We also did not list any school more than once on purpose because many of the back-to-back champions featured the sa...
