University of North Carolina Athletics
Summer Ball Dispatches: Brian Miller
June 4, 2015 | Baseball
Each June, Carolina baseball players leave Chapel Hill and spread out across the country to play in summer leagues. Throughout this summer, the Tar Heels will keep fans updated on their summer adventures though the Summer Ball Dispatches series. Rising sophomore Brian Miller gets it started with his update from Holly Springs.
Carolina Baseball Supporters,
This summer I've been given the opportunity to continue playing ball in the Coastal Plain League. The CPL is one of many leagues structured for college baseball players that enable them to keep competing at a high level following the school-ball season. I'm a member of the Holly Springs Salamanders, a first-year team in the CPL with a brand new stadium that seats about 2,000. We've had some great, sell-out crowds in our first few home games, but it's still nothing like playing at The Bosh in front of you guys!
Typically, most guys that play summer ball live with host families who volunteer their houses for guys that live further away from where their playing. Fortunately, since I'm from Raleigh, I get to stay at home for the summer. Plus, the drive is only 20-30 minutes out to Holly Springs each day and I get to sleep in my own bed which has been a huge plus.
My team is made up of players from a variety of different schools ranging from junior colleges to other schools in the ACC. There are even a few players from State and Duke on my team too, so we've had to drop our differences and try to play on the same team now. Plus, my head coach was a former player at State, so it's been an interesting first week (Not to mention watching the end of the State-TCU game together on a bus-ride home from our game, I was trying hard not to smile).
Overall, I've really enjoyed my first week playing in the CPL. My teammates are all great guys and great players too. I've even played against the team that Coach Gaines and Coach Wierzbicki are coaching (Wilson Tobs). I played pretty well and we won on a walk-off, but it was a little weird seeing them coach the other team instead of mine. We travel all over the place from Virginia down to South Carolina, but I usually just take some movies to watch or books to read to pass the time. Although, this week we had a lightning delay in Lexington, SC and didn't get back to Holly Springs until about 4 a.m. Then I had to drive home to Raleigh, get in bed at about 4:45, and get up to play our next game the next day. In the end, it's going to be a great experience and I'm having a lot of fun.
I hope you guys are having a great summer! Thanks for all the support this season at The Bosh and on the road. I can't wait until next season! I'll talk to you guys soon.
