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2:17 p.m. EST, November 6, 2012
When the Division I baseball offers started coming Micah Miniard’s way this fall, no one was more surprised than he was.
It’s not that Miniard can’t pitch at that level, it’s just that he has a long way to go before he’ll be ready to do it. The Boyle County junior still has two seasons of high school baseball ahead of him, and he said he knows he also he has to improve on the mound
Still, he was happy to accept an offer from Western Kentucky that allowed him to bring an early end to the process of finding the right college, even if he was a little surprised to get it.
“Yeah, I really am,” he said. “I’m glad it’s out of the way, though. It got a lot of pressure off my back.” WKU made its offer to Miniard not long after he pitched well in a Labor Day weekend showcase there. “I threw really good for them, and they said they were going to make me an offer in the next week or two. I went back down there for a visit, and they offered me and their offer was really good,” he said.
Louisville made an offer to him at about the same time. But Miniard said he was sold on Western after his second trip to Bowling Green
“I just really loved Western’s campus a lot more,” he said. “I loved the campus, and I liked the coaches a lot. It’s the right fit for me, that’s what it was. I just knew already.”
Miniard said he was throwing his fast ball in the low 80s last season, but he was clocked in the high 80s at the Western showcases. He threw only 20 2/3 innings for Boyle last season after transferring from Garrard County, but he said he had a better summer season.
Even so, he understands that the Hilltoppers’ offer was based more on his size and his potential than on his past performances. He stands 6-foot-7, and he said he has been working to get better and stronger.
“I need to work on my mechanics, definitely, and get stronger, a lot stronger. I’ve been working on that every day,” the Boyle junior said. “I have nothing to do but get better.”
Miniard said Western Kentucky’s offer was generous, covering his tuition and leaving him and his family responsible for only room and board costs.
“It was an incredible offer,” he said.
Miniard will join older sister Hannah at Western. His sister is a senior on the Boyle softball team, and she plans to join Western’s softball team as a preferred walk-on.
Miniard said he’ll be working on a velocity program this winter. He’ll also be playing for Boyle’s boys basketball team, but he said because of his success in the summer and fall and his recent commitment, he can’t wait until the weather warms and he can play baseball again.
“I’m really excited to get back out there,” he said.
