STORRS – Sarah Miller came to the Class S state championship softball game last year with her Coventry teammates. But she could only sit in the dugout and cheer, because she was recovering from a torn ACL in her left knee that happened over the winter.
Coventry won that title. The Patriots won another one in volleyball and Miller again sat on the bench.
Finally, Saturday afternoon, Miller, a junior shortstop, could actually contribute to a state championship on the field. Miller was 4 for 4 with three runs and three RBI in Coventry’s 16-3 win over ninth-seeded Holy Cross (19-9) in the Class S final at Burrill Family Field softball complex.
“I’m very fortunate to be back here,” Miller said. “Coming off an injury, you appreciate everything a little bit more.”
It was the second straight state title for the second-seeded Patriots (24-2). Senior pitcher Elizabeth Mitchell got the win and had five strikeouts and three hits and bounced a home run off the top of the center field wall in third inning, when Coventry scored four runs.
“As soon as it left the bat, I looked up and I’m like, ‘Is that going to go over? I better start running right now,’” Mitchell said. “I’m very grateful it went over.
“Putting up 16 runs on the board – crazy. We hit so well.”
Elizabeth Mitchell strikes out the last batter, Coventry beats Holy Cross 16-3 to win the Class S title for the second straight year pic.twitter.com/fLi7maRRQu
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) June 8, 2024
Freshman Lilah Talaga, who was named the game’s MVP, went 4 for 5, hitting two triples, a double and a single. She scored four runs and drove in four runs.
Seven of Coventry’s nine players had hits. They scored four runs in the third, two in the fourth, five in the fifth and had four more in the sixth.
“They just fed off each other,” Coventry coach Jeff LaHouse said. “It gets contagious. I felt bad, it seemed no matter where the pitcher threw, we were on it.
“This is one of the best lineups I’ve had. One through nine, we’re solid. We really don’t give a pitcher a break.”
Miller had a bigger purpose Saturday than coming back from an ACL tear to help her team win a title. She supplied her teammates with blue ribbons to wear in their hair and she had one on her shoe in remembrance of State Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, who was killed by a hit and run driver on I-84 May 30 during a traffic stop. Miller’s father, Kevin Miller, was a state trooper who also died in the line of duty in 2018, so this past week and a half has been a struggle for Sarah Miller.
“We are keeping Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier in our thoughts,” Miller said. “I’m so appreciative of this team. It’s been a hard week and a half but they’ve been there for me. They’re always picking me up when I’m feeling down. I want the Pelletier family to know that me and the Coventry High School softball team, we are thinking of them.
“Every single hit, I thought of doing it for him, for his family. It’s funny because I came into this season wanting my comeback with my ACL injury, wanting to come back stronger than ever. But it became more than that.”
