Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – For as long as Emerson Miller has been pitching she has been throwing to the same catcher.

Whether it was lessons, bullpens or practice sessions Miller was always throwing to her older sister Addie.

“Growing up she has always caught lessons for me, caught bullpen for me or caught me whenever I needed it,” Emerson Miller said. “She’s always been there for me.”

Games seemed to be the only time Emerson Miller had someone other than her big sister behind the plate.

Two grades apart, Emerson, a sophomore, and Addie a senior, had rarely shared a field before this season.

This season, in their first season as true teammates, the two sisters have each played huge roles for Solon (17-19).

Addie Miller leads the Spartans 11 major statistical categories including home runs (7), RBI (32), batting average (.424) and OPS 1.246.

Emerson Miller has emerged as the leader of the Solon pitching staff and leads the Spartans in innings pitching, wins and strikeouts while also batting .390 with 25 RBI.

“She has made a lot of improvement, her bat has improved a bunch,” Addie Miller said of her younger sister. “Her confidence overall has built so much this season.”

On Thursday the Miller sisters refused to let their lone season sharing a diamond come to an end.

Emerson tossed a four-hitter and Addie went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer as Solon extended its season with a 9-1 five-inning win over Anamosa (11-21) in a Class 3A, Region 3 quarterfinal.

“It’s special because this is our only opportunity to play together,” Addie Miller said. “We might as well keep going.”

Solon snapped an eight-game losing streak with the win breaking open a 2-1 game with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Laeni Hinkle had three hits and Keegan Kleppe and Liv Nelson joined Addie Miller with two hits as Solon advanced to play at third-ranked Mount Vernon (26-11) in a Region 3 semifinal on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Top-seeded Mount Vernon defeated Union 10-0 in a quarterfinal on Thursday.

“We think about our seniors, every game could be the last game with them,” Hinkle said. “We want to keep it going for them.”
On Thursday it was the Miller sisters that made sure the Spartans stayed alive.

Emerson Miller allowed just one run on four hits while striking out four in the five-inning complete game.

She walked just one while throwing to her older sister and improved to 6-9 on the season.

“She feels like she needs to do better when she’s throwing to me because she knows I’ll get on her,” Addie Miller said. “It’s good pressure for her.”

Emerson Miller echoed that sentiment.

She definitely feels a sense of calm pitching to a catcher she knows so well.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” Emerson Miller said. “She pushes me more than anyone else and I just feel better when she catching me.”

Addie Miller gave her sister an early lead on Thursday.

Hinkle doubled with one out in the top of the first and two batters later Addie Miller hammered a towering two-run home run to left field to give Solon a 2-0 lead.

“I saw some of my teammates swing at pitches that were lower so I knew I needed to lay off those and then the next pitch was right down the middle,” Addie Miller said. “I just swung at it and it went.”

Leading 2-0 Emerson Miller settled in.

She sophomore right-hander posted scoreless innings in the second and third.

Anamosa cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI single by Leigha Hinrichs in the fourth but Miller worked around a two-out single in a scoreless fifth.

“My screw and change were working well,” Emerson Miller said. “My screwball I didn’t have that pitch last year and now it’s my number one pitch.”

Solon put the game away in the bottom of the inning.

The seven-run Spartan fifth started with four consecutive singles by Kleppe, Hinkle, Izzy Frees and Addie Miller.

Frees single scored two and gave the Spartans a 4-1 lead.

“We had a plan and we weren’t executing the plan and after that we had good at bats we just couldn’t get the big hit,” Solon coach Brad Holub said. “That finally came in the fifth and we strung some hits together and then it just kind of snowballed on them.”

Nelson had an RBI double to left field and Kleppe had her second single of the inning to end the game.

“We finally came together and kept our approach,” Addie Miller said. “We knew if we did that we would be fine.”

Anamosa                  000  00  –  1   4   2

Solon                          200  07  –  9  10  0

W – Emerson Miller                           L – Rebekah Graham

2B – ANA: Leigha Hinrichs. SOL: Laeni Hinkle, Liv Nelson

HR – SOL: Addie Miller

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