Island Trees Baseball Beats Manhasset in Game 1 of Semifinals

The Island Trees baseball team defeated Manhasset in game 1 of the Nassau County Class A semifinals on Tuesday, 7-5.

The No. 8 seeded Bulldogs were led by senior Mike Jeannetti, who picked up the complete game win, and Louis Mele, who went 3-4 with a double, a solo home run and two RBI's. 

The Bulldogs were up 5-0 in the bottom of the second, but gave all five runs back in a "weird" inning. Island Trees coach Joe D'Auria said there were a number of "balks and bunts" that led to the five run inning for Manhasset.

After that, however, Island Trees and Jeannetti were able to settle down, with Jeannetti retiring the next 13 of 14 batters he faced.

"I was happy after that inning we settled down and kept our composure," D'Auria said. "It's always good to get the first win out of the way."

Tyler Byrne put the Bulldogs ahead 6-5 with a two-out RBI single in the top of the third, and Mele blasted a solo home run to make it 7-5 in the top of the fifth.

After eliminating the Wantagh Warriors 7-5 on Saturday in a hotly contested series, the boys can now clinch the semifinals with a win Wednesday. Game 2 of the best-of-three series starts 4:30 p.m. at and game 3 will take place on Thursday, 4:30 p.m. at Manhasset, if necessary.

Are you going to game 2 on Wednesday? Tell us in the comments.