Hauppauge - The Southampton baseball team has one time or another accomplished just about all a program can accomplish, from league titles to county titles to starling individual feats. It wasn't until 2009 however that a group of Mariners climbed to the top of their division and could declare itself Long Island champions.

Southampton's Niall Wood went 2 for 2 on the day and sealed the win by making a running catch in right field.

Behind a junior fireballer, sound defense and just enough production at the plate, Southampton made history on Monday, knocking off Wheatley 2-1 at Hauppauge High School to capture its first ever Long Island title. As has been the case much of the season, the clincher was saturated with fine play but also drama, right up to when right fielder Niall Wood gloved a flyball for the 21st out, setting off a celebration on the field.

"This team just keeps on finding ways to do it," Head Coach Ike Birdsall said. "Hopefully we just keep going."

The victory puts Southampton (20-7) a win away from the state final four, held June 14 in Binghamton. Awaiting in the round of eight is Dobbs Ferry, which defeated Section IX champ Pine Plains 4-1 at Pace on Monday. Earlier in the playoffs, the Eagles (22-2) sent home defending state champion Kennedy. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Pace University. On Tuesday, the Mariners will send 6-foot-5 right-hander Alex Antilety to the mound. The senior earned the win in the game that clinched the county title; now he'll try to notch the victory that send Southampton upstate for the first time ever.

The Mariners clung to a 2-1 lead going into the top of the seventh as Pike got set to face the bottom of the Wheatley order. The opposition put two runners on with two outs when Pike's 3-2 offering was lined in Niall Wood's direction in right. The senior had trouble tracking the ball but eventually settled under it to close out the Wheatley advance.

Senior Alex Antilety singled in the third inning to drive in what ended up being the game-winning run.

Pike gave up just three hits and struck out 13 to tally his third postseason victory, the previous of the no-hit variety in a shutout of Pierson last week. It wasn't until Monday night that Pike learned he and not Antilety or Brandon Alvarado would start against Wheatley.

Alvarado was warming up to shut the door in the seventh but Pike managed to fight through seven full frames.

"Pretty much the whole game I had everything working," Pike said. "My curveball was good and I was keeping them off-balance throwing strikes. I pitched good and the defense played well."

Offensive results early in the game held up for Southampton, which scored double digit runs in three of its previous five playoff games. Against Wheatley, the bats generated just six hits but gave Pike a lead with which he could work some magic. In the first, the Mariners loaded the bases with no out and mustered a run on a Colin Buoniello groundout. Wheatley struck for one in the second but Southampton answered back with a run in the third. Like in the first with a hit batsmen, Andrew Shimkus reached base, this time by way of a single. Two batters later, Antilety stepped in and lined a single between short and third to the go-ahead run.

Niall Wood went 2 for 2 on the day leading up to Shimkus, who scored both Mariner runs in the leadoff hole and went 1 for 2. Pike, Antilety and Buoniello banged out the remaining hits.

Niall Wood (right) and Andrew Shimkus combined for three hits in Southampton's Southeast Reginoal semifinal on Monday.

"In the beginning of the year, everybody knew that we were going to have a good team, that we could compete," Pike said. "The county championship was our goal, Long Island is great now, now our eye is one winning states."

Southampton notched its 20th victory on the season and moved its record to 15-0 against schools in Class B or below.