Mike Handal leads offensive charge as Garden City ties Nassau Class A baseball finals

If you’re going by the scorebook, Sunday was Mike Handal’s first home run of the season for Garden City’s baseball team. But his teammates have seen it before.

“In [batting practice] he sometimes puts it over the fence and it’s fun and we always joke with him, like, ‘Why don’t you do that in a game?,’ ” starting pitcher Andrew Nagel said. “But he finally did it today so that was great to see. A big stage for him.”

Maybe Handal was just waiting for the right moment.

Handal, Garden City’s leadoff hitter, demonstrated power and production by reaching base five times and scoring four runs, including his second-inning solo homer, as fourth-seeded Garden City defeated No. 9 Wantagh, 12-3, at SUNY-Old Westbury to tie the Nassau Class A championship series at a win apiece. The decisive Game 3 will be 4 p.m. Tuesday at the same location.

“I felt confident and I got a pitch that I liked and I hit it,” Handal said. “My teammates always have my back and we needed a win and we got a win.”

Garden City (20-5-1) wasted little time, scoring three runs in the first inning after showing patience and starting with four straight walks. The early production provided Nagel more confidence and he tossed a seven-hitter with four walks and three strikeouts.

“It’s nice to have run support, especially [Handal’s] home run,” he said. “That’s really big for the team, [to] carry this momentum into Tuesday, [and] hopefully go win ourselves a county championship.”

SEE PHOTOSNassau Class A final: Garden City vs. Wantagh

Garden City scored in each of the first six innings, including two runs on RBI singles by Cole Sonner and Kevin McNiff in the third inning to take a 6-0 lead. The Trojans scored four more in the fourth, highlighted by T.J. McEvoy’s RBI double and Kenny McCadden’s two-run single in Garden City’s second potential elimination game of the postseason.

“We’ve been here before, we know what the stakes are,” said Rich Marooney, who had two hits and an RBI. “We came out swinging and didn’t look back.”

Eight of nine Garden City starters either scored a run or had an RBI after dropping Game 1 to Wantagh (20-5) on Saturday.

“The boys didn’t want the season to end,” coach Dave Izzo said. “They brought the bats today.”

And after reaching base five times, Handal probably won’t be changing much before Tuesday.

“Might not wash my clothes tonight,” he said with a smile.