TAUNTON – It is well known that Milford, the reigning Division 1 state champion, possesses one of the fiercest offenses in the state.
The only question left regarding the Scarlet Hawks’ offense is when is it going to strike?
Milford exploded in the fifth inning yesterday against Taunton en route to the Scarlet Hawks’ 26th straight win dating back to last year, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six times in the frame before holding on to take down the Tigers, 8-7, in Hockomock League action at Jack Tripp Field.
“We know we can swing the bat. That’s definitely no secret. That’s a strength of ours,” said Milford coach Steve DiVitto. “The girls kept battling, kept putting good at-bats on, kept communicating with each other, which I think is big. (Taunton starting pitcher Kelsey White) had us off-balanced early on and we were able to put some good swings on in those middle innings and put some runs up.”
Trailing, 3-2, entering the top of the fifth, Milford (1-0) loaded the bases for Providence College commit Jess Tomaso, who hit a towering single to the right field fence to plate two runs to go in front.
Shannon Cormier (2-for-3, three RBI) added an RBI single before Kelley Reichert, who earned the win in the pitching circle, helped out her own cause by clearing the bases with a 3-run double to center to take an 8-3 lead and end White’s day pitching.
While Tomaso and Reichert provided the big, run-producing hits, No. 9 hitter Antonia Bonina’s double-digit pitch at-bat to begin the stanza that Bonina finished off with a single to center ignited Milford.
“That at-bat was huge,” DiVitto said. “It got the inning going and we really started rolling. It got some life into our team, too, which was great.”
After getting a run back in the bottom of the fifth, Taunton (0-1) flexed its offensive muscles in the sixth when University of Maine-bound Kya Enos smoked a line-drive, 3-run home run to left-center to bring the Tigers within one.
The relief pitching of Jaylin Couto also made Taunton’s comeback bid possible. Couto replaced White in the fifth, and the sophomore hurler stymied Milford’s potent offense by striking out seven and not allowing a hit in 2 2/3 innings of work.
“(Couto) did a heckuva job,” said Taunton coach Dave Lewry. “I wish I made the move a couple batters earlier. I thought Kelsey pitched real well, too. It was obvious that she had started to get a little bit tired. She was leaving the pitches up. Jaylin has a lot of nice movement on her pitches, she throws hard and today she threw strikes, which that’s the big thing for her.”
Down to its final three outs, Hanna Aldrich led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, but Reichert buckled down, getting the next three batters to strand the game-tying run at first.
“This group is writing their chapter for 2018,” DiVitto said. “We said, ‘This game isn’t going to make or break your season.’ It’s a great test against an outstanding program. … We’re fortunate to battle our way and come out with a win.”
