Late in the 2016 season, with the Mid-State Conference title on the line, injuries forced Franklin baseball coach Ryan Feyerabend to pull a freshman up from the junior varsity and start him at shortstop in a must-win game at Plainfield.
Feyerabend figured that Luke Miles would gwwet to handle a routine grounder or two, and then he’d settle right in — but instead, Miles’ first chance of the game came on a hard line drive with two on and two out.
No problem.
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“He goes about three steps and just dives out; it was something you see on ESPN SportsCenter,” Feyerabend recalled. “Just makes the catch, and I’m like, ‘Eh, he’s good.’”
Miles hasn’t shied away from a huge moment since, and he begins his junior season expected to be one of the go-to guys for the Grizzly Cubs.
Last spring, Miles settled into the starting shortstop job and acquitted himself well at the plate, batting .329 with 20 runs scored — but he also wound up being called upon to fill a big role on the pitcher’s mound, logging a team-high 41 innings. Miles posted a 2.56 earned-run average, striking out 24 while walking just 10.
Feyerabend acknowledges that he’s asking a lot of Miles, having him throw four or five innings in a Tuesday conference game and then turning around and playing short the following day, but he knows that few players are better equipped to shoulder that burden.
“He’s strangely calm, cool and collected under big pressure situations,” Feyerabend said. “He just plays the game the way he knows how, and he really doesn’t let the stage bother him at all.”
Miles is used to multitasking — he just finished up another season on the basketball court, where he ranked third on the Grizzly Cubs in both rebounds and steals per game.
Though basketball eats up the bulk of his time during the winter, Miles has been able to make it all work.
“It gets a little chaotic during the winter,” he said, “but I do get some baseball in when I’m not playing basketball.”
Franklin opens its baseball season with a doubleheader at Columbus North on Saturday before beginning Johnson County Tournament play next Tuesday against Whiteland. Expect the Grizzly Cubs to call upon Miles in the biggest moments, even this early in the season.
“We’ve got to have him on the mound for sure, being our No. 1 or 2 pitcher,” Feyerabend said, “and when he’s not pitching we’ve got to have him in the infield.”
It’s a lot for the average teenager to handle, but Miles tries to view the pressure through a different lens. As far as he’s concerned, it’s hard to justify getting so worked up when you’re doing something you enjoy.
“Baseball’s a game,” he said. “If you’re not having fun ….”
