By Patrick Love

The Dunn Daily Record

Reprinted with permission

BUIES CREEK, N.C.-In baseball and softball, the best of the best are often called five-tool players.

"That means has a strong glove, strong arm, hits for average, hits for power and has speed," said Campbell head softball coach Drew Peterson. "There's not a lot of kids out there who have those five things."

Peterson thinks he's got one in freshman infielder Amanda Miller, and he found her right in Campbell's back yard.

A native of Dunn and 2007 Triton High School graduate, Miller has started all 42 of the Lady Camels games as a true freshman, playing a large role in Campbell's success thus far.

The Lady Camels are 26-16 on the season, and Miller is batting nearly .300 while posting a .897 fielding percentage playing third base and short stop.

But get this - her batting average goes up to .431 with runners on base, .533 with runners in scoring position and .636 with the bases loaded.

"Miller is just a fantastic player," Peterson said. "I'd have to say she's probably the player who is surprising the most people out of our recruits. Not really well known, a small town girl, but she's a five-tool player. I couldn't wait for the opportunity to get her over here."

Miller was a multi-sport standout at Triton, where she racked up numerous awards and accolades in softball as well as basketball and volleyball. But softball was the game she loved most.

Now that she's donning the Campbell orange and black, she says she loves it even more.

"I always wanted to play at a higher level. Division I college softball is where I was focused on, and I think I'm loving it more now than I ever have, even when I was a kid," Miller said, adding that in the past, she's had to deal with teammates whose hearts weren't totally into the game.

Anybody who knows Miller knows that's the total opposite of what she's all about.

"Here, everybody is into it, and when everybody cares, it makes it a whole lot better," she said. "You've got high-tempo coaches; they love it, they're into it. Every player loves it and is into it."

"That makes a lot of difference, and that's why I'm loving it more now, because I have teammates and coaches who are loving it just as much as I am," she said.

But a love for the game doesn't necessarily mean a player will find instant success as she transitions from high school and travel ball to the Division I college level.

That's what's been most amazing about Miller's season thus far - how quickly she's been able to make the transition and find success.

One person who's not totally astonished, however, is Miller's coach at Triton, Jimmy Gaines.

"Amanda is full of surprises," he said. "She's got everything a person needs to be a good athlete. She's got that natural talent, and she's honed it over the years. She never loses that desire to play, and she is a winner."

Miller is not the only freshman who has been contributing to Campbell's success this season, or last season, for that matter. Campbell is gaining a reputation as a program that develops talent quickly - in 2008, the team routinely has seven freshmen and sophomores in the starting lineup, including one of two underclassmen in the pitcher's circle.

The youthful lineup has been delivering too, in a big way. The team has already broken the school's single season home run record.

"We're a young team, but there's no time for mistakes," Miller said. "The freshmen that have come in have worked really hard, and I feel like our hearts are in it 100 percent. We're going into it every day with the mentality of, we're going to be good, and our team is going to be good."

As for the rest of the college life, Miller is planning a major in education. She's moved 10 minutes down the road from her Dunn address to on-campus housing, and she says the food is "alright, but it's not home cooking."

It's a good thing for her she doesn't have to travel far to get back to what she's used to.

And it's a good thing for Campbell that she's used to being successful.