Nevada High's Miller inks with NEO

Saturday, May 16, 2020
In this Daily Mail file photo from March 2018, then Nevada High sophomore Grant Miller is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run.
Photo by Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

Nevada High School senior right fielder Grant Miller is taking his talents to the next level, having signed a national letter-of-intent with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College.

Miller, an integral component of the TIger varsity program as a sophomore and junior, said he had two additional offers, extended by Avila University and Central (Kan.) Christian College.

Miller said a deciding factor in selecting NEO was proximity to home and familiarity with the program. Miller's friend and former NHS teammate Braeden Hinton just completed two season with NEO, a junior college program located in Miami, Oklahoma.

"Braeden had some very good things to say about the program," Miller noted. "He told me how fun it was with his teammates and coaches, and how it shaped him to be a better guy in life in general."

Miller said he took an official recruiting visit in February, where he was able to meet with head coach Roger Ward, while also taking in a game. Miller said he later followed up with Ward, via a 45-minute phone discussion.

"He just seems like a great dude, who really wants to help the kids who come into his program," Miller said.

In addition to his outfield duties, Miller was also a standout pitcher on the Nevada High staff. Miller, however, said while he doesn't anticipate pitching at the next level, he wants to make an immediate impact as a freshman.

"They said it's undecided yet who's going to start, but I'm available for any position they want me to play," he said. "I told them I'm mainly outfield — and I can play left, right, or center."

With the prep season having been cancelled, Miller said he's continued to hone his skills via an indoor batting cage at his parents house, and a shop outside of the house where he's worked out with Hinton and current teammates Blake Pryor and Elijah Nadurata.

"They've been coming over and hitting with me, or throwing, or working out with me," Miller said. "Just in case we had a season, or just in case I went to college to play baseball or anything like that."

Miller, who boasts good range and a cannon arm in the outfield, is also known for consistently making hard contact at the dish.

"I'm not a power hitter, but just look to make contact. Put it the other way — trying to get a hit any way possible," Miller said, providing his own scouting report.

Miller discussed areas he'd like to improve upon.

"I'm not too great at hitting breaking balls," he said. "I'm not very patient, I'm pretty anxious about it, so sometimes I got into slumps, and it gets pretty frustrating then. I might try to hit a home run to get myself out of it, and that doesn't work. I've just got to trust my mechanics and swing."

After a wildly successful sophomore season, in which Miller was a varsity starter for the district champion-state-qualifying Tigers, it was a rugged season for the program during his junior campaign, with Nevada winning only three games.

"It was tough, but you're always having fun with your teammates, your friends," he said. "I didn't realize at the time that it was my final baseball season with Nevada."

Miller said he's confident the team was primed for a major bounce-back season, prior to the announcement of the cancellation.

"I think we would have improved a lot," he said. "We had a very young lineup last year, and those players were able to get a lot of varsity exposure, and experience battling adversity."

Miller detailed his disappointment over the cancellation of the season.

"It didn't really hit me at first, and I thought maybe we could hold out for a bit more," he recounted. "And then, it kind of all hit me at once."

"But I have some pretty good friends and family in the town of Nevada that have helped me get through that. They helped me realize there are other things in life than just a baseball season," summed up Miller.

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