No shortage of county, L.I. champs

Seaford produced one county champ, Karl Leudesdorff at 215 pounds, along with five runner-up finishes, which included Ashley Diaz becoming the first female wrestler on Long Island to advance to a county finals match.

12. Wantagh wrestling

Wantagh’s Thomas Bonasera, Anthony Clem and Jesse Vanorden all reached the All-County wrestling podium the previous winter by placing in the top six of their respective weight classes. On Feb. 12 they were back on the big stage at Hofstra and made the most of it. They secured three of the Warriors’ four Nassau Division 1 championships, leading them to a repeat team title along with repeat county champ Joseph Clem. The Warriors racked up 253 points to finish well atop the team standings. Long Beach was runner-up with 208.5.

13. Malverne boys’ basketball

Farvens Ulysse and the Malverne Mules took it to Carle Place early and often en route to another county championship. Ulysse had 10 of his 21 points during Malverne’s explosive run to start the game and Chad Wesley added 13 as the Mules captured their second Nassau County B boys’ basketball title in three seasons with a dominant 60-36 win over the Frogs March 1. Kevin Estime added 12 points for Malverne, which blew out to a 15-0 lead.

14. Baldwin boys’ basketball

For the second Saturday in a row, Jaylen Brown from downtown provided the difference for Baldwin. Brown’s three-pointer from the corner with 56.5 seconds remaining broke the last of six deadlocks and put the Bruins ahead for good in a hard-fought 45-39 victory over Port Washington in the Nassau Class AA boys’ basketball championship game March 11 before an electric crowd of more than 3,500 at Hofstra. It was the third straight county title for Baldwin (21-3), which a week earlier topped Hempstead in the semis on Brown’s three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining.

15. Baldwin girls’ basketball

It was quite fitting Payton Dulin put the finishing touch on Baldwin’s second straight Long Island Class AA girls’ basketball title with a pair of late free throws. After all, it was the sophomore guard’s sensational 17-point performance in the first half March 11 that allowed the Lady Bruins to lead from wire-to-wire in their 39-32 victory over Walt Whitman. Dulin poured in a game-high 19 points and senior Katelyn Simpson added 13 for Baldwin, which shot 7-for-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to seal its 22nd win in 24 games.

16. South Side boys’ basketball

South Side seniors Josh Garelle and Rob Pericolosi will be college basketball teammates at SUNY Geneseo, but on March 11 the duo made sure their high school career would get extended in historic fashion. Garelle and Pericolosi each scored 14 points to propel South Side to its first Long Island title since the 1977-78 season with a 45-31 win over Kings Park in the Class A championship game. The two book-ended their scoring outputs with Pericolosi registering 12 of his points in the first quarter alone while Garelle closed strong with 10 in the second half. The Cyclones, who knocked off Manhasset for the county title, finished 25-2.

17. Valley Stream North track

The county championships were again twice as nice for the Valley Stream North track and field teams. The boys’ and girls’ teams swept the Nassau AA spring title for the second straight year at their home track May 23 thanks to a combined five first-place finishes in the field events and six runner-up showings in the running finals. The girls took their fourth straight county crown, with Brooke Fessler (high jump), Nattaly Lindo (shot put) and Moanna Thelusca (discus) winning events and Melissa Innocent placing second in three events. The boys’ captured their 14th championship in 17 years led by winners Joshua Lopez (shot put) and Ethan Smalls (discus.)

18. Seaford baseball

Billy Kind created history for Seaford baseball when he struck out the final batter in a 1-0 Nassau Class B finals Game 2 win against Wheatley May 26. The senior pitcher tossed a one-hitter with seven strikeouts to clinch Seaford’s sweep of the best-of-three championship series and garner the program’s its first-ever county title. In Game 1, senior Sean Costello threw a complete-game shutout, striking out eight in a 6-0 victory. Costello scored the lone run in Game 2 on Nick Apollo’s single. The Vikings finished 22-2.

19. MacArthur softball

MacArthur entered the Nassau Class A softball championship series undefeated and riding a 23-game winning streak including a pair against Clarke, but the Rams took the opener and put a notch in the Generals’ loss column for the first time since 2022. However, MacArthur rebounded in a big way behind senior pitcher Taylor Brunn, and after it stayed alive with her Memorial Day shutout secured the county title the following afternoon with a 12-5 win. MacArthur, in capturing its first Nassau crown since 2017, scored four runs in the bottom of the first, exploded for five runs in the fourth and added three more in the sixth. Sofia Anderson and Hailey Feiler had three RBIs apiece.

20.

In the bottom of the ninth inning of a scoreless Long Island Class B softball championship game June 1, Seaford was threatening after a walk to Gabby Bellamore and some nifty bunts by Jamie Young and Katie Young that gave Center Moriches trouble. The bases were loaded for Kaitlyn Young. Some may have cracked under the pressure, but she was all smiles at the plate. On a 2-1 count Young drilled a fastball to left field and a would-be sacrifice fly dropped in for a single, walking off the game 1-0 for the Vikings and giving them the L.I. title. It marked the program’s first since 2005. Pitcher Skyler Secondino allowed only three hits and struck out 15.