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Championship Week: Class A Final Four

June 8, 2017

Compiled from Staff Reports

Class A Final Four / The Breakdown

Wantagh (Section 8)
Record: 22-5
Road to Binghamton: Grinded their way through the difficult Long Island part of the postseason with the win of the year, defeating Shoreham Wading River (entered the game 24-1) and ace Brian Morrell to advance.
Key Contributors: Jimmy Joyce, Anthony Fontana, Anthony D'Onofrio & Trevor Fagan (all D1 commits)
Semifinal Matchup: vs. Pittsford Sutherland; 6:30pm at Union Endicott HS
Prediction: Despite not having ace Joyce throw in the Long Island Championship they were able to scratch and claw their way past Shoreham. They entered the playoffs as the number 9 seed but have been red-hot. They faced Pittsford-Sutherland in the 2010 NYS tournament and lost 6-5. Joyce and Fontana a tough 1-2 punch on the bump.

Pittsford-Sutherland (Section 5)
Record: 16-9
Road to Binghamton: Pittsford Sutherland beat Olean in Saturday's quarterfinal. The Knights advanced to the Far West Regional, defeating Canandaigua in the qualifier. They downed Aquinas in the A2 final for their first title since 2014. Prior to that the Knights beat Batavia and HF-L.
Key Contributors: Max Carver, Jack Zielinski, Nate Richardson, Charlie Pelligrini & Sam Kistler
Semifinal Matchup: vs. Wantagh; 6:30pm at Union-Endicott
Prediction: Carver with some tidy numbers (5-1, 1.13 ERA, 49K to 8 BB over 31 2/3 IP) and Zielinksi handle the bulk of the pitching duties. An aggressive team that will get after it on the bases. Richardson leads the bats hitting at a .413 clip on the year.

Vestal (Section 4)
Record: 15-7
Road to Binghamton: Beat Maine-Endwell to take Section 4 and Saugerties to advance.
Key Contributors: Kyle Taborne, Dominick DiRado, Joe Iacovelli, Matt McAllister, Owen Dando
Semifinal Matchup: vs. Whitesboro; 4pm at Union-Endicott HS
Prediction: Crowd support won't be an issue, expect the hill at U-E to be covered in green and gold, if they advance expect NYSEG Stadium to be packed to the gills. DiRado and Taborne compete and expect no easy at-bats vs. these two. Balanced offensive approach, hungry bunch.

Whitesboro (Section 3)
Record: 21-4
Road to Binghamton:
Key Contributors: Avery Cook, Doug Rando, Patrick Galer, Manny Cooper, Zachary Wessinger
Semifinal Matchup: vs. Vestal; 4pm at Union-Endicott
Prediction: All kinds of arms available if extra innings or pitch counts come into play. Galer, who was teamates with Vestal's DiRado and Dando at the NY state Games, can swing it and has 6 saves. Cook, Rando, Cooper are a combined 15-3. Wessinger is a bopper in the middle of the order. No reason why they can't be hoisting the trophy on Saturday.

Our Thoughts

"The Jimmy Joyce factor could determine the outcomes of this bracket. If he's good to go and sharp, Wantagh saves some arms and matches up well in the final. Vestal has two arms in DiRado and Tarborne that can matchup with anyone in the state. Pittsford-Sutherland may be the underdog of the four but no slouch. Whitesboro seems to be the deepest with some arms that give them incredible depth...and that's our pick. "

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