Your Prep Sports

SOLON  – Cam Miller was determined to finish what he started on Thursday against rival Regina and it was mission accomplished for the Solon junior.

Miller started his season in spectacular fashion by throwing a complete game 3-hitter with 16 strikeouts as the Spartans defeated Regina 4-2 at home.

He ended the game in the top of seventh inning just like he started it in the first with a strikeout.

Miller then pounded his fist in his glove and flashed a huge smile after recording the final out of the game on his 110th pitch.

“It was big,” Miller said of going the distance. “Coach was only planning on throwing me ninety pitches but we had to go a little bit more. I just wanted to close the game for us.”

Regina scored one run in the first and another in the fourth with both runs unearned.

Miller rarely got into a jam after the first inning, but the few times when he did, he usually answered with a strikeout.

“I’ve been practicing a lot this spring just trying to get better,” said Miller, who is also a star quarterback for the Solon football team. “I just try to throw strikes and that’s it. I just let them put it in play.”

Or he just strikes the batter out as was the case on Thursday as all but five of Regina’s outs came via strikeouts.

“We probably left him in there a little longer than we wanted to just from the standpoint of pitch count,” said Solon coach Keith McSweeney. “But he throws the football and he throws the baseball, his arm is fine. He competed.

Solon had two costly errors that led to both of Regina’s runs.

“They didn’t put a lot of balls in play, but when they did, we weren’t the sharpest we could have been,” McSweeney said. “We need to back him up a little bit better than that.”

Solon scored one run in the bottom of the first inning, and the game remained tied at 1-1 until the Spartans scored one run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to give Miller some cushion.

“Cam is a quality pitcher,” said first-year Regina coach Scott Becker. “He’s probably one of the better pitchers in that class in the state, and maybe 4A, too. He’s got some decent stuff and assuming this was his first outing this year and he was in mid-season form.

“So good for him.”

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by becoming a member.