Division 1 South Softball Tournament: Milford Edges Past King Philip in Extra Innings

It was billed as pitching duel between Milford's Shannon Smith and King Philip's Anna O'Neil in the Division 1 South quarterfinals Tuesday in Milford.

That's exactly was it as Milford got the only run of the game, in the bottom of the ninth inning for the 1-0 win.

Now, Milford will move on to play the winner of today's Franklin at Sandwich game in the semifinals Thursday at Taunton High. In the other semifinal match, Bridgewater-Raynham will face Silver Lake.

“Anna pitched a heck of a game,” King Philip head coach Norm Beauchemin said. “She did a heck of a job. The last inning just went their way. I think these were the two best teams. It just wasn’t our day, but a heck of a try.”

The game was 0-0 until the ninth inning, when Milford’s Rachel Levine hit a g fly ball to center field to bring in Lauren Hanna for the win.

The University of Kentucky-bound Smith’s pitching went up a notch in the last innings as 10 of her 14 strikeouts coming in during the last four frames. She gave up six hits and had two walks.

“She can rise to that occasion and find a way to get us out of it and she did that today,” said Milford head coach Brian Macchi. “She had some huge pitches today with them trying to bunt. She made some big plays for us. It was two of the best pitchers in the league going at it today and we knew it was going to be that kind of game.”

O’Neill gave KP a good performance on the mound with six strikeouts, issued two walks and gave up five hits.

“She’s an outstanding pitcher,” Macchi said of O’Neill.

“We faced a good team,” Beauchemin said. “We went nine innings. We had opportunities and we didn’t get it done but we didn’t give up. I’m really proud of these young ladies, they laid it all out tonight.”

KP’s Bri Sebio led the Warriors with three singles. Maddie O’Gryzek, Ashley Hession and Renee Poirier all had a single as well.

Milford’s game-winning double came from Rachel Levine. Lauren Hanna had two singles,  while Smith and Caroline Fairbanks each had singles.

The Warriors finished their season with a 15-3 record.