Miller Place softball accomplished its goal of winning the last game

Returning the entire team from 2024, Miller Place softball was on a mission to get back to the last game of the season.

All 20 players knew what it took to get to the Class A state final, and all 20 remembered the pain and the tears that came with losing that game.

The Panthers made sure to end this season with tears of joy.

“This is my fifth year as the head coach. This was the third time we’ve gotten to the last game of the season,” coach Matt Timmons said. “One was a Long Island championship during COVID. I just tasked them with being the ones to win the last game. We had never done that. Like always, they answered the bell.”

Miller Place defeated Williamsville South (Section VI), 3-0, at Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park in Binghamton on June 14 to claim the program’s first state title. The Panthers became Long Island’s first public school state softball champion since 2017 (East Meadow) and Suffolk’s first since 2012 (Sayville).

In the midst of the celebration came the realization that this team would never quite be the same again.

“When we got that last out, I didn’t know if I was crying because I was happy that we won or because the seniors are graduating and I’ve been playing with them forever,” junior shortstop Laney Vomero said. “It was so many emotions at the same time. It’s a really bittersweet moment.”

After dominating its way to a Suffolk League VI title and through the Suffolk playoffs, Miller Place (25-2) won its second straight Long Island title with a 3-0 win over Mineola behind Ava Zicchinelli’s one-hitter. The win brought the Panthers to their biggest challenge of the season: the Southeast regional final against Marlboro Central (Section IX) in a rematch of last year’s state final.

With one out and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Brooke Callaghan made a diving catch in shallow right field and fired to Emily Lopez at first for an inning-ending double play. In the bottom of the seventh, Sadie Bryant drove in Kelsey Hoffman on a walk-off single to right to give the Panthers a 6-5 win and send them to the state semifinals.

Zicchinelli pitched two shutouts in Binghamton as the Panthers became Long Island softball royalty. The Molloy commit started her varsity career as an eighth-grader in 2021 when Miller Place won its first Suffolk title.

“I got the best five years that this team has ever had,” Zicchinelli said. “I started with the first county championship and I ended with the first state championship. Just to be a part of it, it’s amazing and I’ll never forget it.”

Zicchinelli is one of nine graduating seniors, but the Panthers believe that the culture that has been built over the last five years will carry on to the younger players. With Vomero, Bryant and sophomore catcher Delaney Schleider returning, the younger generation of Panthers is in good hands.

“I’ve got seventh-graders here right now that are ready to go because they’ve sat and watched. They’ve learned, they’ve asked questions,” Timmons said. “This is a fantastic crown on our program. It speaks to those girls that came before and I hope it’ll speak to the girls that are gonna come after."