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36 January 12 • 2012
H
arrison Miler's team didn't
win a game in the Stars
and Stripes Baseball Winter
Wood Bat World Championships in
Florida, but that's not what he and
his father Larry Milen will remember
most about the trip.
"I had a great time, and I met a lot
of guys from all over the country:'
said Harrison, a freshman at North
Farmington High School.
"It was a great experience," Larry
said. "In addition to playing baseball,
the kids heard speakers on important
topics ranging from training to deal-
ing with college recruiters, and they
got to know each other through activi-
ties like a scavenger hunt."
The facilities everyone used certain-
ly weren't too shabby. Players and their
families stayed at the Orlando World
Center Marriott, and games were
played at the Houston Astros' spring
training facility in Kissimmee.
Harrison earned a chance to play
in the 141.1 age division in the late
December tournament through a fall
tryout held at Fraser High School.
Because Michigan didn't have
enough players to form its own team,
Harrison and two others from the state
were placed on the National Stars team
with players from Arizona, California,
Colorado, Kentucky and New York.
There were eight teams in the divi-
sion. The National Stars opened with
an 8-0 loss to the Georgia Stars, but
their next three defeats were all by
one run. They fell 2-1 to the Riverview
Rockets from Tampa and by identical
4-3 scores to the New York Stars and
Carolina Stripes.
The first two games were in pool
play, and the latter two in a double-
elimination tournament, which was
won by the Orlando Assault. Games
went seven innings or were stopped by
a two-hour time limit.
Harrison was the National Stars'
catcher in just about every inning, and
he hit .571. He went 4-for-7 at the plate
with three walks. Among his hits were
three singles and a double.
Catcher isn't Harrison's top position,
but that's where his team needed him.
He considers pitching his forte.
"To be honest, I'm disappointed I
didn't get a chance to pitch:' he said.
This was the first time Harrison
competed in a tournament that used
wood bats, but he's comfortable with
them because he hits with wood bats
during practice all the time.
"It's more difficult to hit with a
wood bat than a metal bat so that
helps me when I use a metal bat in
games:' hc. said. .
Harrison plays a lot of baseball.
He joined the Michigan Bulls travel
baseball program last fall after several
years of playing for North Farmington
West Bloomfield teams. The Bulls are
based at the Bullpen Baseball/Softball
Academy in Novi.
After playing on NFWB Panthers
tournament teams as a 6- and 7-year-
old, Harrison was on Cobras travel
teams from ages 8 through 13.
He played at the Cooperstown (N.Y.)
Dreams Park near the Baseball Hall of
Fame while he was with the Cobras,
and he played in a tournament in
Knoxville, Tenn., last summer with a
Little Caesars travel team.
Harrison plans to try out for the
North Farmington varsity baseball
team this spring. It won't be easy to
make the varsity because he's a fresh-
man, but he says he'll give it his best.
The 5-foot-5, 130-pounder already
has made a name for himself as an
athlete at the high school.
He played quarterback for the North
Farmington freshman and junior
varsity football teams last fall even
though he'd previously played just
one season of football, as a seventh-
grader at what's now Warner Upper
Elementary School.
"I love playing football, but baseball
is my No. 1 sport:' said Harrison, who
turned 14 on Nov. 8.
Harrison said he'd like to play for
the Detroit 14U baseball team in this
summer's JCC Maccabi Games. He sees
it as another opportunity to make new
friends while playing his favorite sport.
The Milen family — Larry and
Stacey Milen and son Harrison —
lives in Farmington Hills.
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