District 1 Class 5A Baseball: Milligan steps up in a pinch to lead Strath Haven back to states

PLYMOUTH TWP. — Strath Haven coach Brian Fili knew what to expect from starting pitcher Sam Milligan in Sunday’s District 1 Class 5A semifinal at Villanova Ballpark.

If there is one player who he could trust to deliver a clutch performance, it’s Milligan. After all, the junior has a history of leading his teams to big playoff wins.

Milligan was the starting quarterback for the Panthers football team last fall. His leadership and sheer determination to get across the goal line on a two-point conversion lifted Haven to a one-point overtime win over West Chester Rustin in the District 1 final.

So when Milligan was handed the ball in place of the injured Mike Valente, Fili had a good idea the right-hander would do the job. Indeed, Milligan pitched six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts to catapult No. 5 Strath Haven to the district title game with a 4-1 decision over ninth-seeded West Chester East.

Haven (13-8) will try to win its second straight Class 5A district title Tuesday at Neumann University when it meets No. 2 Upper Dublin (15-3).

“Obviously, with Sam, you know he’s going to step up. A kid that was quarterback of the football team that won a district championship,” Fili said. “He’s an amazing athlete and kid. He was great today.”

Valente suffered a broken hand fielding a ground ball in the Panthers’ win over Phoenixville in the quarterfinal round. He was scheduled to start the semifinal, which was postponed two days in a row due to inclement weather. Milligan, who is the team’s third starter, was motivated by Valente’s absence and that this year’s Strath Haven team wasn’t considered a favorite to repeat after losing seven of nine starters to graduation.

“Every good team that I’ve been on, we’ve had good senior leadership,” Milligan said. “We still have it this year, but no one really expected us to do anything. We kind of felt that, with all the seniors that left last year, that was it for us. I think it was 13 seniors. We have two starters from last year’s team. But everybody on this team is like, it’s our time now. It’s important to have a team with a new identity, and we’re a different team, but we’re just as good. We feel like we’re underdogs.”

Alex Pak, who has been stellar all year, will take the hill Tuesday in the championship game.

“It’s a big loss losing one of our best players and our No. 1 pitcher (Valente), but it is like a next-guy-up (mentality),” Pak said. “Everyone’s got to do their part and everyone’s got to play better.”

The 2021 team was carried by the best player in the county, Koll Peichel, who earned Daily Times Player of the Year recognition. The 2022 squad can be characterized as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. In April the Panthers were a young and very inexperienced team trying to figure things out and took their lumps along the way, losing five of their first eight contests.

Since April 21 the Panthers are 10-3. In two playoff games, the pitching has allowed only one run.

“I think the guys know we are counting on everybody,” Fili said. “And they are going out and playing well.”

Freshman Luke D’Ancona was called upon to pitch the seventh inning after Milligan neared his pitch limit. All the rookie did was throw back-to-back three-pitch strikeouts and get the final hitter to roll one over to Malarkey at second on the first pitch to end the game.

“Luke is a JV guy who we know can throw strikes,” Fili said. “That was a big situation for a young kid to be in and he handled it well.”

With a berth in the PIAA Class 5A tournament clinched, the Panthers will apply the all-hands-on-deck strategy the rest of the way.

As for Sunday, it was Milligan who jolted the offense in the bottom of the first when he smashed a bases-loaded single to left-center, scoring Matt Defalco. The trail runner, Alex Verona, was thrown out at the plate. East starter Nick Rostock had trouble with his command early and lasted only 1.1 innings after he plunked three batters and walked another two.

“One of the things we were lacking in the beginning of the season and losing a couple of games … was having bad mentalities at the plate. We’ve definitely fixed that in our past couple of games,” said Milligan, who was 2-for-2 with a hit by pitch from the leadoff spot. “We’ve seen some good pitching and some wild pitching. I feel like we’ve done a better job at laying off pitches that aren’t in the zone and getting what we want to hit and being patient. That’s been important.”

The Vikings tied the game in the third when Rostock, who moved to first base, singled home Dylan Heyduk with two outs. Milligan struck out Luis McCarthy to limit the damage.

Haven loaded the bases with no one out in fifth against Jack Maguire, who threw well in relief. With the infield drawn in, Pak hit a grounder to the second baseman Heyduk, who threw home to try to get the force. But he bounced the throw and catcher Jackson Reed couldn’t corral it, dropped the ball, allowing Malarkey, who singled, to slide in safely. Nick Corritore then hit a soft groundout to third, enabling Milligan to race home for Haven’s third run. Matt Kane scored on a wild pitch to make it a 4-1 game.

Pak hopes to replicate Milligan’s effort Tuesday against an Upper Dublin team that defeated Marple Newtown on a walk-off hit Saturday morning. West Chester East plays Marple in the third-place game for the last spot in states. It’s the fourth straight Delco opponent for the Vikings, who upset Penncrest and Chichester in the first two rounds.

“It’s going to be a big game environment,” the junior Pak said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but I think I’ll be able to handle it very well.”