Miller signs to play softball at SCC

Abbie Miller knows that her sport is softball and has signed to play at Southeastern Community College after she helps Highland High School improve on last year's 14-13 record.

SCC needs her to help them improve on last year's 20-28 record. The Blackhawks are currently 28-14 this season.

'I think Abbie is overly prepared for the next level,” Highland coach Carrie Wieland said. 'Mainly because of her strength and her work ethic. This whole entire year, she has worked really hard about getting in the weight room and working out. She just knows what she wants to do. She knows how to go for it.”

What Miller doesn't know is what four-year school she is interested in or what she wants to be.

She does know she has it narrowed down.

'I want to be a crime scene investigator or just an elementary school teacher for first or second grade,” Miller said. 'I am going to major in either criminal justice or elementary education. I am just not for sure yet. Everyone tells me they are totally different occupations and that's why I can't decide.”

Miller signed a letter of intent Friday at Highland under the eyes of teammates, coaches and family. SCC coach Melissaa Flores had planned to be there, but had a makeup game.

Flores is in her 17th season at the helm of SCC. Flores has a career record of 292-231.

In her second season, the Blackhawks finished with a 39-6 record, most wins in school history, and led the Blackhawks to a NJCAA Division II National Championship. After winning the National Title in 2003, the Blackhawks moved to Division I.

The assistant coach is Larry Heath, who is entering his eighth season as the assistant. Heath was the head coach at Southeastern from 1999-2001, where he had a career record of 84-63. His team was the regional runner up in 2000. Heath is also the head coach at Burlington High School, where he has been for 30 seasons. He holds a career high school coaching record of 1056-414. He has appeared at the Iowa High School State Tournament six times (‘87, ‘96, ‘99, ‘03, ‘09, 11) and was inducted into the Iowa Softball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007.

'Abbie has worked very hard since sixth grade to be the player she is,” Wieland said. Southeastern Community College was contacted a month ago and returned the interest right away. This is a great opportunity for Abbie. College provides a great opportunity for everyone. If you love something, do it.”

Miller loves softball and her stats from last year show it.

She had a .310 average, a .517 slugging percentage. She led the team in runs batted in with 30 and home runs with four. She had a .965 fielding percentage combined from playing third base and catcher, where SCC is interested in her playing.

'She is just a really good softball player and she knows the game really well, which is hard to teach,” Wieland said. 'She needs to work on the mental part of her game. Being a failure happens at the next level. It's OK to fail. You'll get plenty more chances, 16 or 32 or however long the college season is. Work hard and don't be afraid to fail.”

Miller considered Kirkwood, Indian Hills and Des Moines Area Community College, but she doesn't know about a four-year school yet. She does know she liked SCC when she visited and will live on campus.

'I like the type of community they have,” Miller said. 'I like the atmosphere. It's just like the small town of Riverside. I just liked how everything was close together. It is not a huge campus but everything, all the buildings, are a five-minute walk from each other. The softball field is close.”

Perusing possible colleges was a slow process until Wieland stepped in.

'Things were not happening quite the way she expected at first, so we reached out to a couple people and shared her numbers and they were like, Yeah! We want her We will take her,'” Wieland said.