Milton Ballplayer Takes Advantage of Bay State Games Experience

This is one of the opportunities that Mike DeMille can learn and grow from as a baseball player.

A few weeks ago he was just one of the 75 kids trying out for the Bay State Southeast baseball team, and after the tryouts he could call himself one of the lucky 25. 

"This is one of the best teams I've been a part of," said DeMille, who is the lone Milton player on the Southeast team, which sits 2-2 after a tough 17-10 loss on Wednesday against the Northeast. "There are a lot of experienced kids out here."

With all the experience on the squad it makes every opportunity that much more important to shine in. In the first game of the tournament, DeMille took the mound in a bases loaded jam with no outs in the inning. He buckled down and got out of the jam with only two of those runs going on the board.

"With a bigger club you don't get as many chances," he said. "When you do get your chance you got to take advantage of it."

In Wednesday's game, DeMille came up with one out in the bottom of the seventh after the Northeast tacked on 13 runs in the top of the inning. DeMille, who had been coaching first and sitting on the bench all game, lined a base hit to right that started a rally to load the bases. The rally fell short.

"I was just trying to get a good pitch," said a humble DeMille.

DeMille can be humble all he wants, but he is a solid ballplayer, at least that's what pitching coach of the Southeast team  Paul Kolodzinski said.

"He stood out there as a kid that could throw, so he was kind of an easy choice for us to make," said Kolodzinski. "He's got the right make-up for a pitcher and I think he's somebody that has an opportunity to continue develop and grow."

Kolodzinski has only been working with the young right-hander for a few weeks, but he already sees a poised young man working on the mound.

"It's his demeanor and the way he carries himself," said Kolodzinsky. "He's very calm. When the going gets a little tough he's able to maintain a sense of calm and not panic. That's a huge strength for any pitcher to have."

DeMille's poise is part of the reason he thrived in the bases loaded jam. "His calmness is what got us through and out of that tough inning,"Kolodzinsky said.

The Southeast squad will have another shot tomorrow to try and make it to the gold medal game and DeMille expects to have the ball in his hands at some point.

"I learned a lot," DeMille said of the experience. "We got some great coaches down here. We got a great pitching coach and we are throwing against good competition."