Milliman named Sky-Em Player of Year

Amber Milliman, Sisters High School's record-setting first baseman, was named the Sky-Em League's 2011 softball Player of the Year.

It marks the second-straight year the Lady Outlaws have had a player honored the league's best for softball (Dara Kosanke won the honor in 2010).

Sky-Em League statistics were not provided to The Nugget, but Milliman batted .615 on the season. She hit 16 doubles, five home runs and drove in 32 runs in leading SHS to a 10-9 record. The doubles and home runs were single-season records for the Outlaws. She also collected 40 base hits and scored 31 runs. The 40 hits is the second highest single-season total at SHS (the record is 60).

Milliman, who was first-team 4A All-State in 2010, also holds the SHS record for career doubles (31) and home runs (8). She batted .418 in 2010 when she set a school record for RBI in a season, with 39.

First-year Outlaw coach Jim Milliman said Amber would attend Linfield College in McMinnville and has "aspirations of playing college softball." Linfield won the NCAA D-3 National title last week.

Joining Milliman on the Sky-Em League's all-star first team was teammate Taylor Nieri. The sophomore outfielder/catcher batted .444. Nieri, who also earned first-team league honors for basketball and led the Sky-Em in scoring, drove in 10 runs, hit 6 doubles and scored 22 times.

Earning second-team honors were senior infielders Cassie Hernandez and Marissa Calavan and sophomore utility player Tiffani Milliman, Amber's sister.

Senior McKenzie Cooper, playing the entire season with an injured knee, received honorable mention recognition. It was the third time in her four varsity seasons she was so honored. She was second-team all-Sky-Em in 2009.

A four-year starter, Hernandez had her best season in 2011 with a .476 average, 24 RBI, 11 doubles and a pair of grand slam home runs. She finished her career as the program's No. 1 RBI producer with 72, one more than the elder Milliman.

Calavan batted .365, scored 18 runs and collected 18 RBI in 2011. Calavan finished her SHS career as the program's top scorer with 84, breaking the old mark of 70 (held by Jenni Kaiser).

The younger Milliman had 18 RBI, 7 doubles and batted .438.

Coach Milliman noted that he "placed a lot of emphasis on hitting throughout the season and that at the all-league meeting, we had a couple of opposing coaches comment on how well our team hit the ball. We had quite a few girls with pretty high batting averages."

Elmira junior pitcher Alyson Boytz was named Sky-Em League Pitcher of the Year, and Sweet Home coach Steve Hummer was honored Coach of the Year.

Sweet Home (13-2, 17-6 overall) captured the 2011 league title, followed by Elmira (12-3, 18-5), Sisters (9-6, 10-9), Junction City (8-7, 11-11), La Pine (2-13, 3-20) and Cottage Grove (1-14, 1-15)). For the first time in 33 years, the Sky-Em League did not advance a team to the state tournament.

"I was very surprised that our entire league was eliminated from post season," said Milliman. "I felt as if Elmira and Sweet Home had well-balanced teams."