Milton Majors advance to District 3 final
The Milton Major All-Stars faced Lewes/Rehoboth July 13 in what was billed as a clash of the future Vikings. When the dust settled on the winner’s bracket matchup, Milton had scored a 13-2 victory in five innings.
Lewes/Rehoboth moves to the lower bracket to face Georgetown Saturday, July 14, for an opportunity to play Milton again Sunday, July 15. Georgetown eliminated Lower Sussex July 13.
Milton pitcher Gage Joseph pitched four innings, allowing two hits while striking out nine batters. Tyler Jacona pitched the fifth inning, gave up two-run homer to Barritt Ross and struck out two.
“I felt great tonight,” said Milton pitcher Gage Joseph. “My pitching was on. I didn’t do well at the plate in the beginning, then I started getting used to the pitching.”
Milton collected seven hits. Joseph went 3-for-4 at the plate, including a two-run triple and grand slam in the fifth inning. Jacona hit a two-out solo home run in the first inning. Bryce Dominick knocked a two-run double in the third. Jase Mitchell had an RBI sacrifice fly, and Noah Wells had an RBI single in the 10-run fifth.
“We thought it was going to be a low-scoring game,” said Milton manager Paris Mitchell. “It was two great teams with two very good staffs of pitchers. Getting that home run in the first inning was huge, and if we could just keep our nose in front, then whoever gets their nose in front will play a little more relaxed, play a little more free.”
The Milton manager praised the whole team with the success they’ve had.
“Milton’s had a lot of success and a lot of the same names keep coming up,” he said. “It’s not just Gage [Joseph], but it’s Tyler [Jacona], Bryce [Dominick] and then we’ve got great role players. The same leaders keep showing up, and I couldn’t be more proud to coach them.”
Lewes/Rehoboth’s Barritt Ross went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Brady Kosc scored in front of Ross. Brenn Scott went 1-for-2, and Jackson Wood went 1-for-3.
“We left some guys on base tonight,” said Ross. “We should have hit better. We just couldn’t finish tonight.”
Will Hocker went 4.1 innings on the mound, striking out 10 Milton batters, while giving up eight runs, five of them earned. Orion Pittsnogle pitched a third of an inning, giving up four runs. Jackson Wood pitched a third of an inning, striking out one Milton batter.
“Will [Hocker] composed himself after giving up the homer in the first – it really didn’t seem like it bothered him,” said Lewes/Rehoboth manager Billy Hocker. ”He came right back after the next batter. He threw his heart out. We just ran out of pitches there at the end, and the wheels fell off. We had base runners, but just couldn’t capitalize. We didn’t get the breaks tonight. We’re hoping to get through Saturday night and come back here on Sunday and Monday. We’re deep. We have plenty of pitching to go for the rest of the tournament.”
