Chesterton late-inning heroics from Millie and Miller send Valparaiso softball home with the walk-off blues again, this time by an 11-10 score

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
Same field, same two rivals playing a softball game. Hauntingly similar outcomes, both leaving Valparaiso with a stinging case of the walk-off blues as they left the field at Chesterton, gathered equipment and headed to the team bus.
This time, it was Lila Miller delivering the game-ending home run, a high-velocity, line drive shot well past the fence in center field to break a tie and deliver the Trojans an 11-10 comeback victory Tuesday night in a game they trailed by as many as six runs. Last spring, in the sectional title game, it was Hannah Florian who did the honors.
“They were talking trash before the game and Hannah said (to teammates), ‘Oh, yeah, what about my walk-off home run?’” Miller said after giving the Vikings the same treatment that Florian had in the postseason.
As comfortable as Miller would have been with Florian at the plate with a chance to do what she did last spring, she would not have been Miller’s first choice.
“If there is anybody I want up there, it’s myself because I know I have the capabilities as long as my mind doesn’t get me first,” Miller said.
She added that her mind isn’t getting her as often as it used to because of a fortified confidence.
“Shout out to the (assistant) baseball coach Toby (Gentry). He’s been hitting with me and he’s been pushing my confidence game,” Miller said. “He tells me TAPOA, which is to a point of arrogance. I have to go up there with confidence to a point of arrogance and know that I can do it, know that whoever I’m facing doesn’t matter as long as I go up there with confidence.”
It’s working for her. The walk-off was her second home run in as many days. Chesterton’s third home run of the night brought the Trojans all the way back from a 9-3 deficit through five innings in a game in which the start was delayed by rain and lightning.
Coming off the bench for a team that has too many hitters to fit into one lineup and therefore always has a strong hitter in reserve, junior Millie Demeter pitched in with a huge night.
When Florian replaced Payton Cherep in the circle, Demeter came into the game in left field, Ava Vagner moved from left to second base and Lexi Smith came out.
Hitting in the fifth inning in Smith’s spot in the lineup, Demeter doubled in a run, Cherep (3 for 4, three RBI) doubled in two runs and Maddie Nichols plated another with an infield hit that cut the deficit to 9-7.
Demeter, who had made a nice catch in left, was not done delivering at the plate. After Florian singled in a run to cut the deficit to one run, Demeter belted a homer that cleared the fence in right to give the Trojans their first lead, 10-9, since the second inning.
“Oh, my gosh, I don’t think we’ve ever screamed louder than when Millie’s ball went over the fence,” Miller said. “We were all so excited because Millie is someone who kind of gets overlooked, but she shouldn’t. That ball was gone. She has the strength of power. She did great at the plate today and I’m so proud of her.”
When a player doesn’t see her name in the lineup, she has two options: She can mope or prepare for the game in every way possible in the event she is called upon to play at some point.
“I always have to keep my head up because you never know when you’re going in,” Demeter said. “Coach (Erin Cochran) said I was just going to run today and I was like, OK, that’s fine, I’ll do my best at running because that’s what she wants me to do. Then she put me in and I was like OK, this is my chance. I need to do something for my team. I went in there with a clear mind, I felt good, and I got a double.”
And then a home run.
Kaydence Ford followed Demeter’s homer with a double to put two runners in scoring position and bring Nichols to the plate. She hit a searing line drive down the third-base line and Valpo’s Lilah Kincaid made a terrific play, showing quick reflexes to snag the liner, which brought her momentum in the right direction and enabled her to slap the bag for the rally-killing double play.
The way this offense-heavy game was going, a one-run lead felt a little shaky and Valpo tied it in the top of the seventh, Elizabeth Kosek reached on a leadoff walk, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout to the left side. Kylie McMillan doubled to left-center to tie it 10-10 and set the stage for drama with the top of Chesterton’s potent lineup coming up.
Olivia Milton gave the crowd a rise with a deep fly ball to right, just not quite deep enough, and it was caught for the first out.
Then it was Miller time. If you’ve got the time, Miller’s got the bat, and when she takes it to the plate it’s generally a good time to hurry back from the concession stand.
“I want to make my last year the best year and to do that I have to let go of everything and have fun,” said Miller, who has been making all the plays at shortstop. “I got a little down on myself in the middle of the game, but then I realized that was selfish and I needed to pick my attitude back up and be there for my teammates, and they were there for me.”
Junior Jill Pittman, who leads the team in batting (.474) and home runs (three), was one of the teammates there for her. After Miller reached on a one-out double, Pittman drove her in with her second home run in as many nights to put Chesterton up 2-0. Valparaiso (7-3 overall, 3-3 in the DAC) took the lead with a four-run third highlighted by McMillan’s three-run home run and the Vikings’ lead grew to 9-3 with a five-run fourth that included a grand slam from Kosek.
Chesterton (4-3, 3-2) increased its season home run total to 11, seven of those coming in the past two games, and first baseman Natalie Dusendang made the defensive play of the night, running down a foul popup near the catcher-side corner of the dugout. Florian improved her pitching record to 3-2.
Chesterton 16, Portage 6: The Trojans exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning and four in the seventh to overcome a 6-5 deficit through five innings.
Jill Pittman (4 for 5, four RBI), Lexi Smith (3 for 5), Miller (2 for 5, three RBI) and Florian (3 for 5, four RBI) all homered and the Trojans did not commit an error.
The late-inning comeback set the stage for the next night’s theater.
“We’re definitely closer and the way we’re able to pick each other up is huge,” Florian said. “And that’s what helps us get through the games and stay tough, even when things don’t go our way.”