Island Trees Head Coach Joe D’Auria on the 6-3 victory and their upcoming match up against MacArthur pic.twitter.com/HvlQ3BUzEO
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2018
The No. 15-seeded Island Trees Bulldogs advanced in the Class A playoffs Friday afternoon with a 6-3 victory over the No. 18 Locust Valley Falcons.
Anthony Pellegrino got the start for Island Trees and made the most of the opportunity, throwing a complete game with 7 strikeouts and no walks. The senior ace was rattled early as Locust Valley snagged an early lead, but bounced back and seemed to get better as the contest wore on.
“We saved Anthony for this game and he came through for us,” Bulldogs head coach Joe D’Auria said. “He went the distance and gutted it out against a good team… it means for us.”
At the start, it seemed that everything was going Locust Valley’s way. Their starting pitcher, Sean Hogan, was dominant through the first three innings as he struck out six and allowed just two hits.
After a few scoreless innings, Falcons’ head coach John Corado implored his team to “embrace the moment.” They responded promptly with 2-run inning after Steve Proko’s leadoff double and a pair of RBIs from Christian Elletto and Matt Delaquilla.
Pellegrino found a way to get a run back in the next frame, however, giving himself some run support as he knocked in Ryan Kelly on a bloop RBI single. Pellegrino looked noticably fired up after the play, which rubbed off on an Island Trees dugout that was uproarious for most of the game thereafter.
The Bulldogs extended their lead in the fifth inning after Hogan loaded the bases with no outs. Joe Zub, Island Trees most feared hitter, drew a bases loaded walk that tied up the game at 2-2 before Kelly and Ryan Costanza knocked in RBIs of their own to give their team a 4-2 lead. Hogan finished with 6 innings pitched with six strikeouts and 4 earned runs.
Locust Valley would close the gap to 4-3 in the top of the sixth, but Shay Elster and Rich Imbro knocked in a pair of runs that gave Pellegrino and co. a solid 6-3 lead that they would hold onto the rest of the way.
Kelly finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, leading the way for an Island Trees team that was very balanced at the plate. Six different players had an RBI and every hitter got on base at least once.
“Many of these guys haven’t played in an elimination game,” coach D’Auria said. “We lost like 6 one-run games early in the year and these guys hung tough and I can’t be more proud of them.”
With the win, Island Trees advances to take on the cross-town rival MacArthur Generals, who showed up in droves and were seen in the stands scouting their upcoming opponent.
“MacArthur’s a traditional strong team,” D’Auria said. “I know they’re going to be tough. I know they’ve got strong pitching they always do. It’s going to be a challenge for us, but we’re looking forward to it.
