OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Johnson County Community College head baseball coach Eric Horner announced that he has added former JCCC All-American Anthony Miller to his coaching staff.
Miller returns for his second stint as assistant coach for the Cavaliers' baseball program. Miller first served on the staff during the 2020 season.
Miller returns to the program after serving the 2021 and 2022 seasons as a volunteer assistant for coach Mitch Thompson at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. In those two seasons, McLennan punched their ticket to the NJCAA JUCO World Series each year. In 2021, The Highlanders went undefeated in the Region V North Tournament and the Region V Super Regional to earn the program's third berth in the JUCO World Series under Thompson's watch. McLennan won all five games in Grand Junction to claim their second national title in program history and the first since 1983. The Highlanders ended the season on a 23-game winning streak to claim the title and finish with an overall record of 47-16.
McLennan returned to Grand Junction in 2022 to attempt to defend their championship, but fell short, finishing 1-2 in the tournament. The Highlanders closed out the season with a mark of 50-13-1 and a No. 3 final national ranking.
Miller helped coach four NJCAA All-Americans, one NJCAA Pitcher of the Year, and 16 NTJCAC All-Conference selections.
In the fall of 2019, Miller joined the Cavaliers' coaching staff under Hall of Fame coach Kent Shelley, who was serving his final season. In spring of 2020, Johnson County got of a red-hot start, winning 20 of their first 23 games, including 18 straight, and catapulted up the national rankings to No. 9 before the season was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three members of the team received postseason honors from JUCO Baseball Blog. Sophomore slugger Brady Slavens was named the National Player of the Year by JBB. Freshman outfielder Quinton Hall was selected first-team All-American and freshman pitcher Jay Long earned honorable mention All-America honors.
One of the top power hitters in Johnson County Community College history, Miller was an 18th round MLB Draft pick in 2015. He played five seasons of professional baseball in the Cleveland Indians organization, reaching the AA level in 2019.
Over his five seasons, Miller hit .225 (234-for-1040) with 59 doubles, three triples, 25 home runs, 114 runs and 117 RBI. In his second season with the Lake County Captains at the A level, he collected 66 hits with 13 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 35 RBI. In 2018 with the Lynchburg Hillcats he again had 66 hits with 16 doubles, a triple, eight homers and 30 driven in. Miller's final season in 2019, he played in 25 games for the Midland RockHounds at the AA level.
Miller had an amazing career playing for coach Shelley and Cavaliers. During the 2015 campaign, his sophomore year, Miller was selected as the Kansas Jayhawk Conference Player of the Week six times and earned NJCAA National Player of the Week twice. He also was a first-team All-East Jayhawk Conference and All-Region VI selection and was a second-team NJCAA All-American selection.
Two days after being selected All-American, Miller was selected with the 544th overall pick (18th Round) of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Indians. His selection ranks as the ninth highest in JCCC history and he is the 19th player drafted under coach Shelley. He reported to the Indians on June 20th, and a day later ripped a single to notch his first professional hit.
In 2015, Miller hit a team-best .443 (86-for-194) with 15 doubles, five triples, a school record 26 home runs and 79 RBI. He also scored 73 times to set a new season mark. His 86 hits and 79 RBI rank second on JCCC's season charts. Nationally, he ranked 12th in batting average, ninth in RBI and second in home runs. He tallied 24 multiple-hit games, and 19 multiple-RBI games.
As a freshman, Miller earned second-team All-East Jayhawk Conference after batting .322 (68-for-211) with 18 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs, 63 RBI and 59 runs scored. He led the team in homers and tied for the lead in doubles, RBI and runs scored. He registered 18 multiple-hit games and 18 multiple-RBI games.
Miller's name is etched all through the Cavaliers all-time leaders list. His name appears 25 times in two game, eight season and nine career statistical categories. He owns the career record for home runs (39), runs scored (132) and multiple-RBI games (37). He also ranks tied for fifth in career doubles (33), tied for 10th in triples (9), second in RBI (142) fourth in walks (77) and second in multi-hit games (42). He also had seven multiple-home run games over his two seasons, most by any player, and he tied the game record for runs driven in with eight in a win at Mountain View Feb. 9, 2015.
Prior to Johnson County, Miller was a three-year starter for coach Rick Sabath at Blue Valley Southwest High School in Overland Park, Kan. He earned Class 5A honorable mention All-State in 2001 and second-team All-State in 2012. He also was a two-time first-team All-Eastern Kansas League selection. Miller was also a highly decorated football and basketball player. In football he was two-time All-EKL pick, an honorable mention All-State selection in 2011 and a Rivals first-team All-State pick in 2012. Miller was also selected to play in the annual Kansas vs. Missouri All-Star Game. In basketball, he was twice named honorable mention All-State and was three-time All-EKL selection. He set Southwest's game, season and career records for blocks, rebounds and field goal percentage.