State title resides in Milton after 9-11 baseball series victory

The Cape Region has its first Little League state champions this season after the Milton 9-11 all-stars defeated Camden-Wyoming 6-1 July 20 to take the series 2-1. 

Adversity showed its fateful force in the July 18 contest, as Camden-Wyoming took a 3-0 lead in the second inning of the series-opening game. Milton did not produce an immediate response, but did set the opponent down in order in the top of the third inning.  

Hope quickly waned in the bottom of the third inning, as Camden-Wyoming recorded two quick outs, but the bottom of Milton’s lineup showed why they’re all-stars. 

Aiden Veith singled to produce a glimmer of optimism and sparked a rally. He scored on Nash Dondarski’s line-drive single to right field. Thomas Cunningham’s single advanced Dondarski to third from second and Cunningham nabbed second on the relay throws into the infield. Brodie Hopkins roped a liner into left field to plate Dondarski and Cunningham, tying the game at 3-3. Fresh from summer camp lessons, Hopkins slid headfirst into third base, but the rules require runners to slide feetfirst, so Hopkins was called out and the inning ended.

Camden-Wyoming could only muster a single before Milton was back at the chopping block. Owen Croce doubled and Dominic Nelson walked before Easton Goodwin sacrificed the duo over to third and second, respectively. Zach Faryna walked to load the bases. 

With ducks on the pond, Benjamin Haupt singled to score Croce, but with two outs, Nelson was held at third, as Milton did not want to record the final out at the plate. The one-run advantage proved to be all Milton needed. Haupt took over for Cunningham on the mound in the fifth inning, escaping some traffic on the base paths to maintain the edge.

Nelson was called on to close out the game, and despite conceding a walk, he was dominant, striking out the side to get the 4-3 win for Milton.

Milton jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second game, but a three-run fourth inning from Camden-Wyoming was all the offense needed to tie the series 1-1, taking a nail-biter 3-2.

The peculiar trend of scoring first but losing the game continued in the third and final game of the series. Camden-Wyoming went up 1-0 in the second inning only to see Milton respond with two runs in a chaotic bottom half of the frame.

Loading the bases up with no outs, Milton was primed to pour it on, but good defense from Camden-Wyoming limited the damage to just two runs. Cunningham scored when Goodwin put the ball in play, forcing an error. Camden Bloom gave Milton the lead by touching home on a passed ball before a double play ended the inning. 

Reid Duncan bunted his way on base to open the bottom of the third. He scored when Nelson bashed a double into center field, doubling Milton’s lead to 3-1. Nelson came around to score on a fielder's choice. Faryna’s double rounded out the scoring, with Veith and Cunningham both scoring on the line drive to left field.

Both teams threatened, but the final two-and-a-half frames came and went without a score.

With a 6-1 victory in the deciding game, Milton clinched the state championship with a 2-1 series win over Camden-Wyoming.

Milton will represent Delaware at the East Regional tournament, running from Sunday, July 27, to Friday, Aug. 1 in Beverly, Mass.