The Milford High School softball team won another hard-fought pitchers' duel, 2-1 over Sussex Tech, in the state tournament quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon.
"Janée (Williams) pitched her best game of the year, and the girls played excellent defense behind her," Head Coach Charles Darling said.
“I can’t remember the last time we beat them," Darling said. "They’re a good team every year.”
Like the Bucs' win over Smyrna in the first round of the state tournament, the Tech game was a pitchers' duel that was 0-0 most of the way. Tech struck first, going up 1-0 in the fourth inning, but Milford kept the damage to a single run, and in the sixth, they struck back.
The rally started when Williams helped her own cause with a leadoff double. The next batter, shortstop Nikki Parsley, tried to move her to third with a sacrifice bunt, but she got much more than that. A Tech fielder's throw to first base went wild, and by the time the Ravens could get the ball back to the infield, Williams had scored and Parsley was at third base.
Later in the inning, second baseman Amber Andrews hit a one-out sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Williams to score easily from third, putting Milford up 2-1. The rally ended without further damage, but a one-run margin was enough.
The Bucs move on to face Sussex Central on Thursday, with a berth in the tournament finals on the line. This is the first time Milford has made the third round of the tournament in years, after two seasons of being stopped in the quarterfinals. Central beat Milford the first time they met this season, 4-1.
"Susex Central is a very good team, but at this point every team that's still playing is a very good team," Darling said.
