No. 2 Island Trees rallies against No. 1 Plainedge to win Nassau Class A title

The Island Trees softball team sat in a circle before practice Wednesday and were handed copies of an article about keeping composure.

Christie Ciaramitaro then asked a question: What does composure mean?

"You don't really know what something means," she said Thursday, "until you do it."

She now has a much better understanding. One day after learning about it, Ciaramitaro and her teammates showed it as No. 2 Island Trees erased a five-run, sixth-inning deficit to defeat No. 1 Plainedge, 11-6, in the deciding Game 3 of the Nassau Class A county championship at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

Trailing 6-1, the Bulldogs exploded for a seven-hit, eight-run inning in the sixth, highlighted by Kelly Cembrale's go-ahead two-run single to give them a 7-6 lead.

"I can't believe we won," she said. "We fight no matter what."

Ciaramitaro, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, added a two-run home run in the seventh to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 11-6.

SEE PHOTOSIsland Trees 11, Plainedge 6

Shamar Sanchez went 2-for-4, Alannah Basile went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Tori Tedeshi went 3-for-4.

"It's one of those things you wait your whole life for," Tedeshi said.

After the win, coach Mike Bonsignore asked Ciaramitaro to repeat her question from Monday.

"I told her that, right now, this is what composure means," he said. "They kept their cool and kept plugging and plugging. We defined composure today."