Rio Grande News
Kyle Miller poses with his parents and Rio Grande head baseball coach Brad Warnimont after signing to play for the RedStorm
Thu, Jun. 28, 2012 - [Baseball]
Rio Grande Sports Information
WILMINGTON, Ohio - Wilmington High School baseball standout Kyle Miller has signed a letter-of-intent to continue his career at the University of Rio Grande.
Miller, a 5-foot-8, 145-pound pitcher/outfielder, batted .424 with 36 hits - including four doubles - a .490 on-base percentage and a team-high 23 runs scored for head coach Brian Camp's Hurricane, which finished the 2012 season with a 12-15 record following a 4-3 loss to Wyoming in the Division II district quarterfinals. Miller, a left-hander, also posted a 4-6 record and a 2.79 earned run average on the mound, striking out 61 batters in 52.2 innings of work.
His performance this spring resulted in an All-Fort Ancient Valley Conference first team selection.
"I'm very happy to move on to the collegiate level. All my hard work over the years has paid off and I've reached my main goal," Miller said. "Now I'm ready to improve even more and to make a big impact on my team for the next four years."
Miller is also an accomplished golfer, earning first team All-FAVC selections each of the past three seasons. He was also named the league's Player of the Year last fall.
Rio Grande head coach Brad Warnimont said he envisions Miller helping solidify the RedStorm's pitching corps sooner rather than later.
"Kyle, for a little guy who's lacking in stature, has pretty nice velocity," he said. "He was overlooked by a lot of people because of his size, but his velocity and arm strength are both there and we think he's going to develop into a contributor for us as a freshman. He's the latest addition to what we think is becoming a pretty good recruiting class."
Miller, who has whittled his list of potential majors down to either business or computer programming, chose Rio Grande after also receiving interest from Shawnee State, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne and Indiana University Southeast.
"Rio seems like a great baseball program with a great group of players," said Miller. "I felt really a t home when I met with the coaches and it just felt like the right place for me."
Miller added that he hopes to take full advantage of the chance to come in and play right away.
"I feel that I can come in and become and impact player in the bullpen or in the starting rotation," he said. "The biggest improvement I need to make is to just get bigger and stronger and to add more velocity to my fastball."
Warnimont said that Miller will likely see his first action for the RedStorm as a reliever.
"He'll probably start out in the pen for us, but I'm not going to rule out the possibility that he could evolve into a starter down the road," Warnimont said. "He can drop down a couple of different arm slots, he has command of four pitches - he reminds me a little bit of (former major league hurler) Mike Hampton. He's a bulldog-type of player."
That bulldog-type of attitude supports Miller's long-term goals in a Rio uniform.
"My ultimate goal is to be a top pitcher on our team and to work as hard as I can - and as much as I have to - to make our team as good as it can be," he said. "Ever since I was about five or six years old, I wanted to make it to the collegiate level, help somebody compete for a league title and advance as far as possible."
Miller is the son of Don and Cindy Miller of Wilmington.
WILMINGTON, Ohio - Wilmington High School baseball standout Kyle Miller has signed a letter-of-intent to continue his career at the University of Rio Grande.
Miller, a 5-foot-8, 145-pound pitcher/outfielder, batted .424 with 36 hits - including four doubles - a .490 on-base percentage and a team-high 23 runs scored for head coach Brian Camp's Hurricane, which finished the 2012 season with a 12-15 record following a 4-3 loss to Wyoming in the Division II district quarterfinals. Miller, a left-hander, also posted a 4-6 record and a 2.79 earned run average on the mound, striking out 61 batters in 52.2 innings of work.
His performance this spring resulted in an All-Fort Ancient Valley Conference first team selection.
"I'm very happy to move on to the collegiate level. All my hard work over the years has paid off and I've reached my main goal," Miller said. "Now I'm ready to improve even more and to make a big impact on my team for the next four years."
Miller is also an accomplished golfer, earning first team All-FAVC selections each of the past three seasons. He was also named the league's Player of the Year last fall.
Rio Grande head coach Brad Warnimont said he envisions Miller helping solidify the RedStorm's pitching corps sooner rather than later.
"Kyle, for a little guy who's lacking in stature, has pretty nice velocity," he said. "He was overlooked by a lot of people because of his size, but his velocity and arm strength are both there and we think he's going to develop into a contributor for us as a freshman. He's the latest addition to what we think is becoming a pretty good recruiting class."
Miller, who has whittled his list of potential majors down to either business or computer programming, chose Rio Grande after also receiving interest from Shawnee State, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne and Indiana University Southeast.
"Rio seems like a great baseball program with a great group of players," said Miller. "I felt really a t home when I met with the coaches and it just felt like the right place for me."
Miller added that he hopes to take full advantage of the chance to come in and play right away.
"I feel that I can come in and become and impact player in the bullpen or in the starting rotation," he said. "The biggest improvement I need to make is to just get bigger and stronger and to add more velocity to my fastball."
Warnimont said that Miller will likely see his first action for the RedStorm as a reliever.
"He'll probably start out in the pen for us, but I'm not going to rule out the possibility that he could evolve into a starter down the road," Warnimont said. "He can drop down a couple of different arm slots, he has command of four pitches - he reminds me a little bit of (former major league hurler) Mike Hampton. He's a bulldog-type of player."
That bulldog-type of attitude supports Miller's long-term goals in a Rio uniform.
"My ultimate goal is to be a top pitcher on our team and to work as hard as I can - and as much as I have to - to make our team as good as it can be," he said. "Ever since I was about five or six years old, I wanted to make it to the collegiate level, help somebody compete for a league title and advance as far as possible."
Miller is the son of Don and Cindy Miller of Wilmington.
