As Yarmouth-Dennis battled with Falmouth in a back-and-forth game on Sunday night, Cody Miller (East Tennessee State) helped put Y-D over the edge with crucial plays on the basepaths and at the plate.
Miller has caught fire recently for Y-D, with six hits in his last 15 at-bats after beginning the season 1-10. This hot stretch has included a game-tying RBI single in the seventh inning during the 4-4 tie against Bourne on Tuesday and a go-ahead homer in the 9-2 win over Chatham on Friday. His latest performance on Sunday added another hit and run scored to his totals, along with a game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
After Y-D fell behind 2-0 in the first inning on Sunday, Miller stepped to the plate in the second with two outs and no one on. Falmouth starter Matt Sauser (UCF) appeared to be heading for a second straight 1-2-3 inning when he got ahead of Miller 1-2, but Miller fought back to draw a six-pitch walk and extend the inning. That walk proved to be vital when AJ Soldra (UConn) came up and launched a 381-foot home run in the next at-bat to tie the game at 2-2.
“We got two outs right away, and I knew that my at-bat was going to be big to flip that momentum around,” Miller said. “Just to get the next guy in the box was all I was trying to do, whether that was getting a hit or drawing a walk like I did. Then AJ put a great swing on that ball, and we were able to get those two back, so that was a huge part of the game.”
With the game still tied, Miller found a way to get on with two outs again in the fourth inning when he grounded a ball past the shortstop for a base hit. The single put Miller into a tie for second for most hits on Y-D, only behind Alex Hernandez (Georgia Tech).
Miller is no stranger to making an impact in games with his legs, stealing 27 bags this season with ETSU, and he showed off that speed in the fourth. On a routine ground ball to third from Soldra, Miller prolonged the inning by racing to beat out the throw at second base.
“I turned to our first base coach with two strikes, and I said, ‘I’m getting a bigger lead here… if a ball’s put in play, I’m beating the ball to second base,’” Miller said. “Infielders sometimes don’t expect a runner to run hard, so to be able to run hard really just puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”
Y-D took advantage of Miller’s impressive baserunning, as Yomar Carreras (Rutgers) drove in a run with an infield hit in the following at-bat to give Y-D its first lead of the game.
The game was knotted up once again heading into the final inning after David McCann (Virginia Tech) delivered a game-tying home run for the Commodores in the eighth. Y-D responded quickly in the top half of the ninth with a walk from Chris Hacopian (Texas A&M) and a double from Nolan Traeger (TCU), setting the stage for Miller with runners at second and third and one out.
Miller immediately fell behind in the count 0-2 when Joe Sabbath (University of Rhode Island) got him to chase a breaking ball in the dirt. On the next pitch, Miller drove a 92 MPH fastball to the center fielder, which was deep enough to score Hacopian from third and give Y-D a 4-3 lead.
“The whole approach there was just to put something deep in play and allow our runner to tag up,” Miller said. “I think he probably missed with a heater there; he probably meant to throw it further up, and I made him pay for it.”
Miller’s sacrifice fly was the difference-maker, as Derek Schaefer (Arizona State) slammed the door with a scoreless bottom of the ninth to give Y-D its fourth consecutive win.
“We just met each other a week or two ago, and to be able to win games consecutively like this, it means a lot,” Miller said. “There’s still stuff to get better at, but I think we’re going to just enjoy our off day and get back to work.”
Following the off day on Monday, Y-D will look to keep the winning streak rolling when it welcomes in Wareham at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
