Kimmel's triple sends Milford past Tower Hill

William Kimmel of Milford tags out Bo Anderson at second base in a Tower Hill vs Milford baseball game at Milford High School on Saturday.

MILFORD– William Kimmel knows how to let the drama build.

Milford’s junior second baseman fouled off a pair of two-out, two-strike pitches with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning. Then he unloaded a tiebreaking, three-run triple into the gap in right-center field to propel the Buccaneers to a 5-4 victory over Tower Hill on Saturday.

“It was a big spot for my team,” Kimmel said. “It gave me the opportunity to come up with a big hit, and I just waited for my pitch.”

The game was tied at 1 when Milford (2-1) rallied with two outs in the fifth. Dante George sliced a double to left, Daniel Burgos followed with a single and Thomas Jordan was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Kimmel.

The Hillers (0-1) brought in Charlie Quimby to relieve starting pitcher Adam Reynolds, and the tall right-hander quickly got two strikes on Kimmel. But the left-handed hitter stayed alive until he cleared the bases on a 2-2 pitch.

“I got a pretty good piece of it,” Kimmel said. “It was a fastball on the inner half, and I got my hands through the ball.”

The Buccaneers were coming off a 10-5 loss at Cape Henlopen on Thursday, and Kimmel’s drive was just what they needed.

“We got that timely hit we needed with two outs, two strikes,” Milford coach Nick Brannan said. “If we don’t get that, we’re frustrated again.”

The Bucs tacked on a run in the sixth, making it 5-1 when Burgos drew a bases-loaded walk. It would turn out to be very important.

Milford starter Abraham Mow held Tower Hill to one run over four innings, and Aaron Thornley pitched 1 2/3 innings of effective relief until giving way to Jordan. The right-hander came in from shortstop to end the Hillers’ two-on, two-out rally on a fly ball to center in the sixth.

Abraham Mow of Milford looks to first base from the mound.

But Jordan struggled to find the strike zone in the seventh. The first two Tower Hill batters walked, then moved to second and third on Matt Rovner’s groundout.

Then Brett Anderson singled to drive in Hugh Love, and Kevin Zittlau scored on a wild pitch. Anderson moved to third on the wild toss, Ben Crain walked, and the Hillers pulled within 5-4 when Anderson scored on a double steal.

Jordan got the second out on a strikeout, but another wild pitch moved Crain to third. With the tying run just 90 feet from home plate, Jordan got a called third strike to end the game.

“Never take the shine off a win, no matter how you get it,” Brannan said.

Brett Anderson scores a run for Tower Hill.

The Milford coach was happy to see his team face a pressure situation and respond. The Buccaneers also handled the heat in a 7-4, season-opening win over Caesar Rodney last Tuesday.

“We’re not going to have a five-, six-run inning in every game,” Brannan said. “So we’re going to play a lot of close ballgames, and we’re going to have to be mentally tough.

“This is the second close ballgame we’ve been in, and we’ve won them both. It builds confidence to know in the late innings, somebody is going to answer the bell.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.