‘A dream come true.’ How a session in the bullpen changed this Coast pitcher’s life.
One January bullpen session drastically changed Max Miller’s future.
The Vancleave pitcher and high school senior had recently signed to continue his baseball career at Pear River Community College. Then he made the trip north to Starkville to throw in front of the reigning national champions at Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs liked what they saw and formally offered Miller a spot in their signing class. The left-hander didn’t spend much time mulling over the decision.
“I think I called and gave them an answer in about 10 minutes,” Miller told the Sun Herald. “There wasn’t no deciding on it. It felt amazing, it felt like a dream come true. That’s always where I wanted to go.”
Miller had been on the Bulldogs radar since at least last summer and was a “wait and see” prospect, Vancleave head baseball coach Justin Edwards told the Sun Herald.
When Miller displayed enough growth in his arm in the winter from his previous summer trip, MSU coaches were ready to send him his national letter of intent.
“Mississippi State, they want to see numbers,” Edwards said. “They want to see that velocity go up just a little bit. They want to see that breaking ball with a little bit more spin... I think once they started seeing the numbers and the maturity they were wanting to see is when I think that they couldn’t really pass up on a guy like that.”
As a lifelong Bulldog fan, Miller is excited for the opportunity to suit up for one of college baseball’s biggest powers.
“I know what it’s like to cheer on the pitcher and I’ve wanted to be that pitcher that (is cheered on),” Miller said. “I feel like I’m going to be treated great up there. I’m going to learn a lot of stuff. It’s going to be good.”
Now that Miller knows where he’s heading this fall, he can put the rest of his focus on his Vancleave squad. He’s already made two starts and has allowed just one earned run over nine innings.
His most recent outing ended in five hitless innings of work against Pearl River Central where he sent down 11 Blue Devil batters via strikeout.
“The kid is a leader,” Edwards said. “He goes out there and competes. He does whatever we ask him to do. Yeah, he’s a pitcher but he also plays outfield and he hits in our three-hole. Guys look to him and see how he handles himself, how he carries himself. You know when you send him out there, he gives you a chance because he’s that good.”
Miller has been steadily improving his presence on the mound and working at his pitches. He’s sitting in the mid-to-upper 80’s on his fastball and can touch 91 miles per hour on a radar.
He still has the rest of the season ahead of him to dominate his competition and lead Vancleave back to the statewide playoffs.
