MHS Softball crushes Sussex Central, advances to championship game

Silent for the first two games of the state tournament, the Milford High School softball team’s offense exploded Thursday afternoon against Sussex Central, giving the Bucs a 12-1 win over the Golden Knights and putting them one game away from their first state championship in 32 years. 

“Our bats really came alive today,” Head Coach Charles Darling said. “I was expecting that they would in yesterday’s game, and that didn’t happen, but it did today.” 

Milford, the 10th seed in the 16-team tournament, will face Caravel Academy for the state title at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Polytech High School. Caravel knocked the Bucs out of the tournament in last year’s quarterfinal round, coming back from a 7-1 deficit to win the game in the seventh inning. 

“I’m just glad we’re in the championship game, and we’re playing Caravel,” said Janée Williams, who has pitched every inning of the Bucs’ playoff games this year. 

Against Central, Williams had her third straight game allowing one run. The Knights had baserunners in almost every inning, but couldn’t do anything with them as Williams consistently got them to strike out and pop out with runners in scoring position.

“I just try to focus,” she said. “We call it walking on the water…you just have to take that first step forward. Today, we all stepped forward together.” 

The defensive play of the game came from third baseman Morgan Culver in the fifth inning, when the score was 7-1. Central’s Asia Cunningham opened the inning with a double and went to third on a passed ball, and the next batter walked, putting runners on the corners with no outs. But the next hit was a line drive straight to Culver, who snagged it and tagged Cunningham before she could get back to the base, completing a back-breaking unassisted double play. The Knights never threatened to score again. 

“The key was consistency on defense,” Darling said. “That was the only exceptional defensive play we’ve had in the past few games, but we made every unexceptional play. If you do that then they can’t get people into scoring position.” 

On offense, the Bucs had their best day of the tournament by far. It started with their first at-bat, when Nikki Parsley hit a double and eventually scored on a base hit from Amber Andrews, and kept going through the seventh. Marcy McKee finished with four RBIs on three hits, while Morgan McKenzie and Wilson each knocked in two. Andrews and Savannah Becker had one RBI apiece. 

“I was in a little slump the past few games, and I just tried to get my foot down and perfect my swing,” McKee said. 

Milford has now upset the tournament’s seventh, third and second seeds. Caravel is the top-ranked team in the playoffs, with an 18-1 record overall.