Sadie Bryant's hit gives Miller Place walk-off win in state Class A regional final
Miller Place's Sadie Bryant hits a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning against Marlboro in the state Class A Southeast Region final on Sunday at Martha Avene Athletic Complex. Credit: George A. Faella
Sadie Bryant understandably was nervous during her at-bat in the seventh inning with the score tied.
Bryant missed bunt attempts on the first two pitches, but the ball went to the backstop each time, allowing Kelsey Hoffman to advance to third.
Bryant’s mindset suddenly shifted from advancing a runner to advancing Miller Place to the state semifinals.
Bryant smashed a one-hopper past second baseman Taylor Castellani to give Miller Place a walk-off 6-5 victory over Marlboro Central (Section IX) in a state Class A regional final on Sunday at Martha Avenue Park in Bellport.
“I was nervous taking the at-bat. I knew I needed to come up with a hit,” Bryant said. “This was the time to show what this team does. To solidify who we are. I just put bat to ball.”
After an error gave Marlboro a runner on third to start the top of the seventh, Ava Zicchinelli induced a pop-up before intentionally walking Kaitlyn Gordon and Sam Malek to load the bases.
“I wasn’t going to let their three-hitter [Gordon] beat us and their pitcher [Malek] had great at-bats,” Miller Place coach Matthew Timmons said. “You run the scenario 100 times, 50 times it’s the right move, 50 times it isn’t.”
The decision paid off for Miller Place (23-2). Rightfielder Brooke Callaghan made a diving grab and fired to first for a double play to keep the score tied at 5.
“I was reflecting on the first play I missed. I kept telling myself I have to get the next one,” Callaghan said. “I dove for it and got off the ground with everyone screaming ‘first!’ I planned to go home, but I heard everyone scream, so I threw to first and she was out.”
Marlboro (19-1) got three straight hits to start the sixth inning, with Malek driving in a run to cut the deficit to 5-2. Izabella Williams singled with two outs to tie the score at 5.
“We know we’re a strong team and always encourage each other,” Callaghan said. “We all stayed positive. We knew we could pull this out.”
Delaney Schleider and Evelyn Paul each drove in a run to give Miller Place a 2-0 lead in the first. Paul singled another run home in the third to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead.
Laney Vomero had an RBI single and Schleider hit a sacrifice fly to extend Miller Place’s lead to 5-1 in the fourth.
“Coach always says we’re the best team that steps on the field,” Bryant said. “We played with intensity and I think we proved him right today.”
Miller Place will face Maine-Endwell (Section IV) in the state Class A semifinals at 11:30 a.m. on Friday at Green Light Networks Grand Slam Park in Binghamton.
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
