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Sports

Wantagh Baseball Falls to First Place Garden City

The Trojans offense exploded for 18 runs to clinch regular season conference title.

Needing just one win in their remaining three games against Wantagh to clinch the conference title, the Garden City baseball team left very little to the imagination, scoring five in the first and seven in the third inning in an 18-3 rout to clinch the title.

The Trojans hitters jumped all over Warrior starter Greg Welch, who was tagged for 11 runs (eight earned) in the lopsided affair. Catcher Brandon Samardich had a perfect day at the plate, going 4-4 with three runs, five RBI and a walk, and pitcher James Duff improved to 6-0 on the season, throwing five good innings.

Thge loss dropped Wantagh to 9-5 in Conference A-1 and 11-5 overall. Garden City is now 13-2 in the conference and 14-2 overall.

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Trojans coach Rich Smith was pleased that his team put it all together on the field and played a complete game.

“We’ve been trying to find our A game for a little while now, and I think you saw us put it all together on the field today,” he said. “Our last game was a tough one [a 17-17 tie], and they came out here with the right mindset and came to play."

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The first four batters of the game reached for Garden City, and each scored in the pivotal five-run first inning. The Trojans were held in check in the second, but came right back in the third. With the bottom half of the order up, the Trojans set the table and loaded the bases for shortstop James Cauchi, who subsequently deposited a Welch fastball over the right field fence for a backbreaking grand slam. Cauchi would add his 100th career hit in the sixth inning to cap off a memorable day.

“I got him with a 2-1 count, and I was looking in, and when he threw it there I was ready to hit it,” Cauchi said. “We had a great day today, but the job isn’t done yet, we still have a lot we want to do. But that conference champions banner is going to look real nice hanging up.”

Defense was a pivotal component of this game, and may have been the difference in what could have been a close game. Garden City was flawless in the field, turning two difficult double plays, and making stops whenever the Warriors found their way on base. Wantagh on the other hand gave the Trojans extra outs on defense and the high-powered Garden City offense made them pay.

“Their good defense was very important, and really stopped our momentum,” Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said after the game. “We had a few opportunities to stop them early when it was 5-1, but we missed a few plays and it was 11 just like that. If you give a good team extra outs, they’ll punish you.”

Wantagh plays the second of its three-game series with Garden City to close the regular season on thw road today starting at 4:30 p.m.

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