‘Wanting more’: Milton majors aren’t content just being at states; they want to win it

Milton manager Garrett Shynder and his players aren't looking too far ahead down the road. They simply take things one game at a time, but the expectation at the Pennsylvania state tournament in Pittston isn't simply to be there and be content with that.

No, Milton wants to win the state championship and keep its summer ride going further.

"The expectation is to win. Win it all. ... Our expectation is to win and move on, win and move on," Shnyder said. "If something doesn't go our way, pull it back in, win and move on. When we go to the state tournament I'm not there to just be there, we're there to win. We're there to win the state tournament and that's our mindset."

Milton is making history this year. First, the team won the District 13 championship and on Wednesday, Milton beat Loyalsock in a close, exciting game, 8-6, to claim the Section 3 championship. It's the league's first Section 3 title since the 2001 season, long before any of the players on this team were born.

For Shynder, he's glad to be back in Milton where he grew up and seeing a ton of community support for the players this year.

"The outcry and support from the community is huge. I've seen people here today that I haven't seen in 25 years. I mean, it's a lot. My family, as far as my name, came through Milton 25 years ago through football. My dad and my uncle, our roots were here and it's nice to be back," Shnyder said.

"It's our goal to get there. It means a lot. This town support (is great). I mean there's 60 people here in the outfield taking pictures. We packed the stadium. It's a big thing for Milton baseball. We want to be good again and not just good for a year, we want to be consistently good and build the program back," Shnyder continued. "That's what we're doing from a young age and I think it means everything to these kids. They worked really hard for it and they earned it and deserved it. We just never gave up and that reflected on the scoreboard today. We were lucky to out-slug them, I'd like to out-pitch them. I'm a pitcher, so I'd like to out-pitch, but we out-slugged and that got us to where we need to be."

Milton begins the state tournament in Pittston on Monday with a 1 p.m. game against the Section 6 champion. Win or lose, Milton plays against them on Tuesday in either the winners' bracket semifinals against the winner of the Section 4/Section 7 contest or in the losers' bracket against the loser of that Section 4/Section 7 contest.

Milton's offense has been playing well its last two games against Loyalsock for the Section 3 championship. Loyalsock was a team with talented pitching and defensive prowess, but even so, Milton was able to keep putting the ball in play and collecting hits. In the first game on Tuesday at Berwick's Ber-Vaughn Park, Milton collected 10 hits against Ben Gusick and Lucas Frey while scoring ten runs. In the rematch in a winner-take-all final on Wednesday, Milton came through with six hits and scored eight runs, including five in the fourth inning to go ahead for good.

In Tuesday's game, Cullen Reese went 2 for 2 with two runs scored, Brody Rhodes went 1 for 3 with a run, Jordan Brown was 1 for 3 with a double and two RBIs, Cohen KNarr went 1 for 2 with a double, walk and run, Weston Sumner was 1 for 2 with a walk and run scored, Zeke White went 1 for 2 with a walk and two runs, Brody Ficks went 1 for 3 with a run scored, Blake Folmar was 1 for 3 with two RBIs, Reece Armstrong was 1 for 2 with three RBIs and Peyton Swineford was 1 for 1 with a walk and run scored.

A day later, it was Jordan Brown going 2 for 2 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored, Max Shnyder going 2 for 2 with three RBIs and a run scored, Folmer going 1 for 1 with a walk and Armstrong going 1 for 2 with an RBI while others reached from being walked. Regardless where Milton is in the lineup, the team can produce and get runners on and that's a big reason the team is now playing in the state tournament in Pittston.

Shynder also attributes it to the team practicing situations and then delivering when they present themselves on the field.

"Practicing those moments. I don't think a lot of kids practice those moments when you're in the back yard, bases loaded, we're down three and we're trying to get a big hit here. Putting those kids in those moments all the time, me putting them in those situations day after day and them wanting to rise up," Shnyder said. "In that moment they say 'I've been here, I know what I'm doing,' and that really comforts them and allows them to perform at a high level. It really helped today."

And it's been helping all summer for Milton.