BROOKFIELD—Sydney Miller has plenty of awards.
All-League. All-State. All-this and all-that. She was even named the CT Softball Blog’s inaugural Preseason Player of the Year.
She was honored, sure, and she appreciated the acknowledgements from the people who handed everything out, but what she really wanted wouldn’t be handed to her.
It had to be earned. It had to be won.
A state championship.
In her last game as a Brookfield High School softball player, Miller finally got it.
Last Saturday at Burrill Family Field in Storrs, Miller struck out 12, scattering four hits and leading the Bobcats to the Class L state championship with a 3-1 win over New Milford.
She got her state title. She even got Player of the Game honors from the Connecticut High School Coaches Association. And now she gets the CT Softball Blog’s Diamond Awards “Senior of the Year” honor, as well.
Whether in the circle or the batter’s box, Miller was a force to be reckoned with. She had 318 strikeouts in 158 innings. She had an ERA of 0.75 this season. And she finished her career with a school record 914 strikeouts, as well.
At the plate, Miller aided her own cause time and time again, batting .562 with 12 home runs. She had 50 hits on the season and finished with 32 RBIs.
In the circle, she had 318 strikeouts and a 0.75 ERA in 158 innings. She set a new school record with 914 career strikeouts, as well.
In the end, though, it was all about the state title.
“This is such a special senior year,” Miller said after hoisting the state title trophy. “We got so close last year and we fell a little bit short, but we’re such a team and energy-wise we just pulled through this year.”
Before winning the title, Miller showed everybody what she was made of in the Class L semifinals—an epic 15-inning marathon where she threw 237 pitches in a 7-6 win over Jonathan Law.
“Sydney is an absolute competitor,” Brookfield coach Alyssa Lionetti said after that game. “Any pitcher that can go from losing, to tied, losing back to tied, losing back to tied, is just a fierce kid. I have never seen somebody want to win more than she does, and she knew it was her season on the line and she did anything she could to keep it going.”
She was named the CT Softball Blog’s Preseason Player of the Year and lived up to it. She has been named All-State by the CHSCA and by GametimeCT. And now she’s being honored as the “Senior of the Year,” as well.
But before Miller heads off to Brown in the fall it will be always be the state championship that will mean the most to her.
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