Millbrook baseball battling for first state title
"21 as 21" could be Millbrook's unofficial slogan this post season.
The 21 Wildcats baseball players entered the 4A East Regional as a 21-seed, and now this underdog has to chance to win the school's first-ever State baseball title.
"No twenty-first seed has ever made it past the point that we've made it past," said Wildcats senior pitcher Alex Royalty. "It's the biggest game of my life. We all don't know what to expect, but we know that we can play a game, and we can win games, and that's what we have to do one more time."
Like every magical run for a sports team, the momentum comes from a critical turning point in the season, and for the Wildcats, a culmination of factors propelled this playoff push.
"You know, there are certainly schools around that have maybe more raw talent just baseball-wise, but this group is special in that they're all genuinely on the same page," said Millbrook baseball head coach Austin James. "Once May rolled around we got on a little bit of a run, and we really started to think, 'You know if we do a few things right and start to execute in big situations, we could last for a while.'"
Standing on the other side of the State title bracket is Providence, a team that was nationally ranked at one point this season.
"Honestly, they may be the most talented team in the state," James said. "It's going to be a huge challenge. They're really active on the bases, (and) they try to make you make mistakes."
The 'Cats, though, hope to claw through their newest championship challenge using the same formula they've used have all season long.
"I'm just telling these guys to embrace the moment, but not only embrace it, but you have to earn the moment as well" Royalty said. "You just can't let it slip by without giving it your all."
