Avon duo's success carried into North-South All-Star game

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Avon's Ryan McPike (left) and Jared Miller (right) represented the Orioles in the North-South All-Star game in Ft. Wayne. Submitted Photo

July 19, 2011

Justin Whitaker The Hendricks County Flyer Tue Jul 19, 2011, 11:48 PM EDT

After only having three North-South All-Star baseball players in Avon High School history, the Orioles added two more to that list this year.

Senior pitcher Jared Miller and outfielder Ryan McPike represented the South team in the 37th Annual Indiana North/South All-Star Series played in Fort Wayne.

The South team won the first two contests of the three game series, 10-3 in Game 1 and 14-3 in Game 2.

"It was good to win the first two and get the series secure under our belt," McPike said. "Considering the players we competed with, it was really exciting to win that series."

McPike was happy with his play as he started out slow but was able to settle into a comfort zone.

"I did not get hits my first couple of at-bats but then I bounced back and got some really key hits and helped the team out," McPike said.

All-star games are always filled with uncertainty because most of the players have never competed together. But that did not seem to affect the South squad.

"There were a lot of good players there so everyone was getting used to playing against each other," Miller said. "When everyone comes together like that it's hard to get a real team chemistry going. I felt like our South team did a really good job of playing together and doing what we had to do to get the win."

While the score is not necessarily reflective of the talent on display, the best of the best from Indiana was showcased.

"The level of competition was really good. It had the best players from all across the state, from all four classes. Everyone went out there and had fun and competed," McPike said.

Having the two players from Avon on the all-star team showed the amount of talent the Orioles' squad had this past season.

"It shows a lot about the program in Avon with the strides we've made to have two guys on the North-South All-Star team because it is a pretty big honor to play in that game," Miller said.

Avon might have been able to showcase more of their talent during the IHSAA baseball tournament if Miller's shoulder injury did not sideline the ace pitcher.

"It showed the level of talent that we had and how far we could have gone if Jared's arm was healthier," McPike said. "But it showed that Avon was really competitive and that we had a lot of talent."

Once the Orioles' season ended, Miller took time off to make sure he healed. The all-star game was his first real action of the summer.

"I wanted to give my shoulder some time to heal and that took about a month and now I'm pretty much back to 100 percent," Miller said.

On top of being selected to the South All-Star team, Miller and McPike along with teammate Andrew Eiler all represented the Orioles on the All-State First-Team.

"It was really great. I didn't expect three people to make it," McPike said "I was expecting Jared to make it and possibly Andrew and myself to make it. But then to see all three of us up there and how good of friends we all are, it meant a whole lot."

McPike now heads off to Anderson University in the fall where he will continue his baseball career.

"I'm ready to get there at the college level and see what I can do," McPike said. "Show that I fit and get in and play well there."

For Miller, he heads south to Vanderbilt University, a team that made its first appearance at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. this past season. The 6-foot-7 left-handed pitcher has high hopes headed to Vanderbilt.

"I just want to go down there and just work from day one and try to earn a spot," Miller said. "Obviously it's definitely a goal to play right away and hopefully get right back to Omaha."

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