Kenny Miller named St. A baseball coach

Dustin White

Although it will be his first varsity coaching job, St. Anthony High School's pick to fill its newly-opened baseball position is no stranger to the local baseball scene.

Kenny Miller has accepted an offer to take over as the Bulldogs' skipper for the upcoming season after seven-year veteran Joey Ohnesorge resigned the post earlier this summer.

If you've followed youth baseball in Effingham very closely over the last decade, chances are you've crossed paths with Miller at one point or another — he spent seven years as an assistant at Effingham Junior High School, coached all-star teams at various age levels as his sons progressed through the park district leagues and most recently has played a major role into turning Effingham Post 120 into an American Legion powerhouse at both the junior and senior levels.

"I love baseball and I've always enjoyed teaching the game," said Miller, a 1982 Beecher City High School graduate, who played four years of varsity ball before spending a year on the team at Olney Central College.

"When this opportunity presented itself, I couldn't pass it up. I appreciate (St. Anthony Athletic Director) Mike Hoene and the other people at the school for giving me a chance. I hope I'm as good as some of the folks who recommended me think I am."

Currently, Miller is in his second year as the manager and head coach of the Post 120 senior legion squad. He was an assistant on the senior team the year before and ran the junior legion squad for two years prior to that.

His junior legion club won the now-defunct Great Lakes Regional tournament in 2006 — at that time the highest level of postseason play available at that age level. Last year, the senior legion club won the District 23 East tournament and ended the year with a 35-14 record.

Miller doesn't know if IHSA rules will allow him to continue coaching the Post 120 team after this summer, but he says he'll stay involved as far as managing the team's schedule and roster regardless of whether or not he'll be allowed to actually be on the bench coaching.

"I'd love to stay involved if it's at all possible," said Miller. "I want to work with (Effingham High School baseball) Coach Fleener to get our best kids playing legion ball. I envision a legion program with an even split of players from each city high school and a guy or two from some of the nearby towns. We are committed to a St. Anthony/Effingham priority.

"I admit it hasn't always happened that way in the past, but if city athletes want to play, they should be playing. In the long run, keeping the legion program strong should make both schools better."

For Miller, high school is the ideal coaching level as far as interscholastic competition is concerned.

"I like this age group," said Miller. "I feel I relate well to the kids, yet I can treat them like adults and can generally resolve issues without getting parents involved. Also, my style is aimed more toward high school or even legion-age kids as opposed to junior high, which is more instructional.

"My strong point is teaching the finer points of the game and getting kids ready to play in college. I want the kids to be individuals and make each individual better. Success is all relative, and it's important to know each kid's goal as a player and help them reach that goal."

Miller certainly has a good grasp on what it takes to play at the college level — he has coached numerous college-bound athletes at the legion level. Additionally, his son, Zach, played two years at Danville Area Community College and two more at Greenville College. His other son, Andrew, redshirted last year as a walk-on freshman at Lake Land College.

All three of Miller's children graduated from Effingham High School and of course he helped longtime coach Rod Wiethop at EJHS from 2000 to 2007, so it'll be a little different for him to put on the Bulldogs' uniform.

"I've got an awful lot of Effingham shirts in my closet, but I don't feel like a traitor," said Miller. "I just think it's a great opportunity. Over the years, I've worked with tons of kids from all different schools during the summer, including St. Anthony. In 99.9 percent of those cases, they have been hard-working kids from good families.

"Chris Fleener and I also are good friends, and I think it'll make for an interesting City Series in the spring. I know plenty of the other high school coaches and umpires in the area, and it should be fun to work with them."

As a coach, Miller feels a program can never stop improving and he has that goal in mind for St. Anthony.

"I'm not looking to fix anything, just tweak some things here and there," said Miller. "(Ohnesorge) did a great job and left things in good shape. This is a program rich in tradition, and I just hope to leave it in even better shape when I'm done."

Among the goals for Miller is expanding and deepening St. Anthony's spring schedule in an effort to make it more challenging, while also providing younger players a chance to get a little more varsity game experience rather than being thrust into it as juniors and seniors.

"We'll take on all comers," said Miller. "We won't be afraid to play anybody, and I think we should be able to get some of the bigger schools to play us. St. Anthony has a respected athletic program, and you can never play too much good competition."

Miller says he'll also push to have St. Anthony play one of its local rivals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, something many area prep teams have done in the past for fundraisers.

Assisting Miller will be Dave McDevitt.

"I'm looking forward to working with Dave," said Miller. "I'm a little too old to have played against him in high school, but I know he played college ball and was very talented. He's a baseball guy and knows what he's doing out there."

Just two seniors graduated this past season — Jordan Amlong and Alex Westendorf. Both are playing for the Post 120 senior squad.

"We'll miss those guys," said Miller. "They were both great pitchers, and Alex did a good job catching as well. They're both good all-around players and better kids."

As far as philosophy, Miller is an unapologetic baseball purist, although he says his old-school approach doesn't translate into a strict disciplinarian style of coaching.

"I just want the kids to treat the game right and treat the opponents well," said Miller. "There are a lot of life lessons to be learned in this game. We'll play tough, but we'll respect the game. As long as I'm getting 100 percent effort and we're doing things the right way, it'll be a lighthearted dugout.

"I can tolerate physical errors, but mental errors are unacceptable. Not every kid can make every play, but every kid can be thinking on every play. I want to work hard to develop pitchers and a solid defense. If you can do those things well, you'll always be a competitive team."

Dustin White can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 123 or dustin.white@effinghamdailynews.com.

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