Martinez: Skyview’s Maddie Milhorn makes exceptional look routine

Maddie Milhorn hadn’t given much thought to the fact that she was throwing a perfect game last Thursday.
That is until the leadoff batter in the seventh inning hit a comebacker that glanced off her glove.
“Right when it went off my glove, I was like ‘hey, no one has gotten on base yet,’ ” the senior pitcher for the Skyview softball team said. “Then Dylan (Yates) made a great play (at third base), and we were all super proud of her. So, yeah, we’re thankful for her.”
Not only had Milhorn retired the first 18 Battle Ground batters she faced that day, the senior had struck out 16 of them.
After the play by Yates, Milhorn struck out the last two batters to complete her perfect game, striking out 18 of the 21 batters she faced in a 9-0 win over the Tigers.
Skyview coach Kim Anthony says it’s easy miss when Milhorn is doing something special in the pitching circle. The senior has done it often over her four seasons with the Storm.
“That’s just Maddie,” Anthony said. “She strikes out 17 in one game, throws a perfect game the next week.”
But last Thursday’s game was something special.
“I can’t remember having a game quite like that,” Milhorn said. “I didn’t even realize until after the game that I had that many strikeouts.”
She also didn’t realize the three times the Tigers put the ball in play, it was the same hitter — Battle Ground leadoff hitting Lainey McMullen.
“Yeah, well, good for her,” Milhorn said. “And she put it hard in play every time.”
Anthony calls the pitches for Milhorn, something the coach enjoys because of the senior’s ability to execute those pitches and hit her spots.
But the most stressful part of last Thursday’s game didn’t occur during one of those three balls put in play, but instead on one of her 18 strikeouts.
“There was a moment when one girl was just fouling a few off,” Anthony said. “I thought that she was getting the pitches timed a little bit. It was a full count, and looked at Maddie and go ‘Changeup?’ Maddie nodded (yes).
“So she threw it and just floated it across the plate. In hindsight, I would have just died if we had walked her because I called a changeup.”
Instead, the batter swung and missed for strike three.
“After the game, I said to her ‘I’m so glad I didn’t blow it for you there with that changeup call,’ ” Anthony said. “And Maddie was like ‘Oh, that’s OK. I didn’t even know I had (a perfect game) going.’ ”
Since spring break, Milhorn has been a roll. She had a 17-strikeout one-hit shutout against Prairie on April 9. She had 10 strikeouts and two hits allowed over five innings in a 10-0 win over Skyline.
After Thursday’s perfect game, Milhorn threw three shutout innings with nine strikeouts and one walk in a win Friday over Heritage.
Even so, Milhorn didn’t feel like a perfect game was coming during the pre-game at Battle Ground.
“I actually told my best friend Addy (Harmier), who is on the team, the warmup was horrible,” Milhorn said. “I had a horrible warmup. I wasn’t really liking the mound. But I was able to lock in and get it done. It was a good day.”
Since allowing three runs in the first inning of a 3-1 loss to Jesuit of Beaverton, Ore., on March 24, Millhorn has pitched 31 consecutive shutout innings, allowing just five hits with 72 strikeouts.
It’s a run that left Anthony wondering a bit about last Thursday’s perfect game.
“Like if it’s not insane enough, oh my gosh, could you even imagine if she had struck them all out?” Anthony said. “I was like ‘You would have been on ESPN, girl!’ ”