Jake Miller grew up playing soccer and baseball, then he switched to football and baseball. By eighth grade, it was just plain old baseball.
That’s a rarity these days—so many young kids find the Grand Ol’ Game a little too slow for their tastes. But true students of the game know that the thinking process in baseball is just as important and intriguing as the physical aspects.
Especially on the mound, which is where Miller finds himself most of the time while playing for Lawrence High School or Lawrence Post 414.
“I saw how being a pitcher, it’s all up to you,” said Miller, who was sidelined with a broken nose mid-Legion season but hoped to be back for the final regular-season games, and hopefully the district tournament if Lawrence qualified. “Everything is on you and you can control the pace of the game. It’s a mental game, not as much as a physical game. It’s just outsmarting kids, or just playing the game how it should be played.”
And if anyone has an edge when it comes to the mental aspect, it’s Miller, who seems to be successfully following in his dad’s footsteps.
Bill Miller was a baseball and soccer standout for Lawrence High and has gone on to a career as an aerospace engineer. When college begins this year, Jake will be attending the University of Southern Florida as an “Engineering Undeclared” major and “will see where it takes me from there.”
“I’ve always been inclined toward math and sciences,” he said. “Those are my strong subjects. My physics teacher pushed me to liking engineering, and physics comes easy to me.”
Thus, it’s only natural he enjoys the challenge of out-thinking a hitter in a game of guile. According to Post 414 coach Jason Zegarski, he is as tough on the mound as he is smart.
“I tell the kids on the team to watch Jake every time he pitches,” Zegarski said. “He’s going to be one of those kids who leaves it all out on the bump. He’ll give you whatever he’s got. When he came in at 16 he was a little immature, but everyone is a little immature at that age. It’s just great to see to where he has matured to at this point.”
Miller also has some intimidation on his side, standing over 6-foot-1 so the batters “see a lot of arms coming at them when he throws the ball,” according to Zegarski.
The right-hander throws a fastball, curveball and change-up, and the manager noted that whatever is working on that particular day will be his out pitch.
Jake actually bent the rules to get his baseball career started, as his dad signed him up for Lawrence T-Ball a year before he was eligible. He went up through the Lawrence system, making the district all star team for three straight years in Little League before moving up to Babe Ruth.
Miller spent some time catching in little league and once threw out an amazing seven base runners in one game. He enjoyed the position but wearing the equipment wasn’t for him—“It was just way to hot in the summer.”
Throughout his career, Miller’s main position has been pitcher. This summer, he has both started and relieved. He freely admits that he prefers starting.
“Everything is on me, I get really into the game and if I come in in relief it kind of frustrates me,” said Miller, who was 2-0 before getting hurt this summer. “When I’m starting the game, I know my mindset, I know my whole routine how to get ready. In relief, sometimes it takes a couple minutes and you have to get tough with yourself. You’re not in the mindset you’d like to be in.”
Nonetheless, Miller does whatever he is asked without complaining. Zegarski has also put him at a corner outfield or on second base this summer.
“He’s a great kid, he’ll do anything you ask because he’s just a kid that wants to win,” the skipper said. “He’s one of the leaders. If we named captains he would be the one I’d name. He’s vocal, he has one of the longest tenures on the team. He’s the guy who talks to guys on the bench and takes care of those kind of things.”
Miller’s willingness to play anywhere came back to bite him earlier this season. Playing second base in a night game on Lawrence’s home field at Eggerts Crossing, Jake went to catch a pop-up.
“The ball went above the lights, our first baseman didn’t see the ball, and it looked like a meteor coming at me,” Miller said. “It smacked me right in the nose. I turned around and looked at the outfielders and said ‘I think I broke my nose, guys.’ I got up, felt my nose, and there was a huge bump. As I walked back to the dugout, blood started pouring out.”
Miller was frustrated by the injury as he felt he was getting into a solid groove on the mound. He still remained in the dugout to lend support and keep the book, and also kept busy working at Bossio’s Deli right across the street from his house.
“It’s a good experience in the workplace,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for four years now. I like not having to ask my parents for money, so I can be pretty independent. I kind of do everything there—cook, make sandwiches, work the register, make deliveries.”
Deliveries are his speciality, of course, as he has made them from the pitcher’s mound all his life.
