Winning completion for Scarlet Hawks
WORCESTER — Milford came out of the gate with a loss this season, but its 24game win streak was on the line in the Division 1 state final last night at Rockwood Field.
Thanks to a two-out rally in the fourth inning, the Scarlet Hawks took the lead and never looked back, posting a 7-3 win over Wachusett to capture their first crown since winning back-to-back titles in 2012-13.
“We know what we have been doing,” said Milford coach Steve DiVitto. “We’ve been doing it for 25 straight games. We got down early. You have to be able to ride those peaks and valleys and they did just that.”
In the fourth, Shannon Cormier walked with one out and came around to score two batters later on Emily Piergustavo’s RBI double against the left field fence. Maggie Farrell followed with a hard single to center to give the Scarlet Hawks (25-1) a 4-3 lead.
“We responded and that’s what championship teams do,” DiVitto said.
Farrell added some insurance runs in the sixth as she lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Cormier from third to make it a 5-3 game. In the sixth, Jessica Tomaso had a RBI single and a sacrifice fly to center by Katitlyn DeCapua gave Milford a 7-3 lead after six frames.
Wachusett (21-4) got on the board first with three runs in the second inning. The Mountaineers got runners on second and third after a leadoff single by Brigid Griffin followed by an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt by Courtney Lanpher. Lizzie Miles chased both runners home with a two-run single to right.
Three batters later, Paige Arvidson made it a 3-0 lead with an infield single to score Miles.
Milford got back into the contest with two runs in bottom of the second. Sophomore Emily Hartman was hit by a pitch, and Kelley Reichert followed with an infield single. Two batters later, Cormier reached on an error. Junior Kate Irwin chased in a run with an infield single and Piergustavo plated another with a sacrifice fly to center to make it a 3-2 deficit after two.
Milford senior hurler Ali Atherton settled in nicely after the second, retiring 16 of the final 19 batters she faced while allowing just two hits over the final five innings, including all three batters she saw in the seventh.
“(Atherton) has been outstanding,” said DiVitto, “She has been a rock. It’s a great team win. A great comeback and Ali was outstanding.”
Atherton stranded a runner on third with two outs in the sixth inning after allowing a leadoff single to Griffin. Lanpher grounded into a fielder’s choice and reached third on a Miles groundout. But Atherton got Kiana Lloyd to fly out to end the frame.
“I just kind of pushed through from there,” said Atherton. “I knew my defense would show up today, so I knew if I let another hit go we would be OK.”