Milligan, ‘14 softball team to enter Hall
WYE MILLS – Scott Milligan has earned plenty of baseball accolades, ranging from all-star shortstop to high school coach of the year. Yet this latest recognition is clearly special.
“It’s definitely an honor, having attended here and having been given the opportunity to come back here and coach,” the current Skipjacks assistant baseball coach said of his selection for the Chesapeake College Athletic Hall of Fame. Milligan and the 2014 state co-championship women’s softball team will be inducted during the college’s 13th Hall of Fame dinner on Thursday, November 3rd in the Caroline College Center on the Wye Mills Campus.
Tickets – which include a social starting at 6 p.m., the dinner and induction ceremony, and unveiling of the Hall of Fame wall with the 2016 inductee plaques mounted – are $75 each and may be purchased by contacting Becky Fauver at rfauver@chesapeake.edu. Chesapeake College employee and student tickets are $50 per person.
Milligan played shortstop on the Skipjacks’ 1989 and 1990 baseball teams. While he set a number of records that have since been broken, he still owns a piece of the single-game record with seven runs batted in.
“Dan Fielder, the coach at that time, was instrumental in my athletic career,” recalled Milligan, who went on to become a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-star at Bluefield State College.
“Dr. [Ed] Baker [professor emeritus at Chesapeake] had a huge impact on my decision to go into teaching,” added Milligan, who currently teaches physical education and health at Kent County High.
The 2014 women’s softball team went 34-5 and split the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference title with CCBC-Catonsville. Catonsville eventually edged Chesapeake, 6-5, in the “if” game of the NJCAA Division II Region XX championship tournament with a national tournament berth on the line.
Stephanie Weyermiller – who led the conference in home runs, runs batted in, and slugging percentage – was named to two all-American teams. Seven members of the squad earned all-state or all-region softball honors, or both.
“The beauty of the 2014 team was the diversity,” said Chesapeake head women’s softball coach Durrie Hayes. “We had four girls from Cecil County, four girls from out of state and four local players [Kaley Schreiber and Lindsey Budd from North Dorchester High and the Tyner twins from Queen Anne’s County High] and they blended together beautifully.”
Hayes said his Skipjacks overcame considerable adversity.
“We started with lots of pitching but due to injuries we were down to one pitcher by the regional tournament,” said Hayes. “Stephanie [Weyermiller] ended up sixth in the nation in home runs with 16 – which was more than any of our teams had ever totaled. They hit well, played good defense and pitched really well.
“They were really something until the injuries set in, but even then they fought and fought to end up within one run of going to the World Series,” added Hayes.
Milligan said the team highlight of his two years playing for Chesapeake was “our victory over Anne Arundel Community College, our rival school, during my freshman year.”
“We had 12 guys on that team and beating a big school like Anne Arundel was impressive,” added Milligan, who is now in his fourth year as an assistant coach at Chesapeake.
“You want to give back to the college that gave you an opportunity,” said Milligan of his decision to return to Chesapeake on head coach Frank Szymanski’s staff.
“I heard he played with a strong passion for the game and his teammates,” said Szymanski. “As a coach, I’ve been impressed with his commitment, knowledge, and work ethic. His ability to teach our players the game and life skills has been beneficial to all. We are fortunate to have him in our program.”
Milligan was an all-Bayside Conference shortstop at Colonel Richardson High prior to attending Chesapeake. He was an honorable mention on the all-conference squad as a sophomore before claiming second- and first-team honors as a junior and senior, respectively. The Colonels qualified for the regional playoffs for the first time in school history during Milligan’s senior season in 1988.
“At that time you had to qualify for the playoffs,” said Milligan, noting that was before regionals became an open tournament.
Milligan had two stints as head baseball coach at Colonel Richardson, serving from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2003 to 2008, with the biggest highlight being the program’s first region and state championships in 2007 and first Bayside Conference title in 2008. His tenure as Kent County High’s head baseball coach from 2009 to 2011 may have been even more impressive in that the Trojans had three straight winning seasons and a 35-23 overall record while coming off nine consecutive losing campaigns.
Milligan was Mid-Shore Coach of the Year at both Colonel Richardson (2006) and Kent County (2010), and earned District VIII Coach of the Year honors in 2007. He was District VIII’s Maryland Baseball Committee representative as well as the Class 1A East Region baseball tournament director from 2005 to 2011.
Milligan also served as vice president of the Bayside Conference Baseball Coaches Association from 2006 to 2011.
Milligan and his wife, Diana, have three children. Colton is Milligan’s stepson; his daughters are Catherine and Caroline.
