Matt Reich stingy in Wantagh victory

Armed with an improved curveball, Matt Reich kept Bellmore JFK hitters uneasy . . . all while making it look easy.

The lanky righthander was pulled from the game with more than 100 pitches after Ben Cohen’s two-out single to rightfield in the top of the seventh, but Ethan Herman entered for the final out to secure an 8-1 win for host Wantagh on Thursday in Nassau A-II.

Reich struck out eight, including his last four outs recorded. He walked three and allowed just two hits, one being a solo home run in the first inning by Jason Coules.

“I really wanted to finish this game, get this win for my team,” Reich, a senior, said. “I thought I had [Cohen] with that 2-2 curve, but it’s just what happens. Good thing Ethan came in to close the game.”

Wantagh (2-1) trailed 1-0 until it broke through in the third inning against starter Matthew Levine. The Bellmore JFK righthander got the first out of the inning, but an infield error, single and walk loaded the bases for Anthony Fontana.

Fontana, a lefty, drove Levine’s offering deep to left-centerfield for a double that scored Ryan Murphy and Anthony D’Onofrio, giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead over the Cougars (1-2). They tacked on two more in the frame, one on Patrick Willix’s sacrifice fly and another on an infield error.

“It was a fastball a little away,” Fontana said of the pitch he drove. “My whole approach during the game is when a guy’s throwing not too fast, you have to wait back on the ball and just try to hit it up the middle or to the opposite field. That’s exactly what happened.”

SEE PHOTOSBellmore JFK vs. Wantagh baseball

Wantagh scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth, and D’Onofrio’s two-run single to centerfield gave the Warriors an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth. D’Onofrio went 2-for-4, and Fontana went 1-for-3 with an intentional walk.

Fontana spoke highly of playing defense behind Reich, who works quickly and pounds the strike zone. He pitches to contact and challenges hitters, and he always has that curveball in his back pocket.

“I worked a lot on it in the offseason, just locating it and the amount of spin I get on it,” he said. “It’s just important for me to be able to get that over for a strike, keep them off balance.”

He threw the hook early and often, stifling the Cougars’ lineup and cruising to his first win of the season.