Baseball: McHenry coaches, AD watch Bobby Miller’s MLB debut in person

When they heard the news over the weekend, McHenry baseball coach Brian Rockweiler and assistant Zach Badgley knew what had to be done.

Even with the Warriors’ first-round Class 4A Dundee-Crown Regional game looming Wednesday afternoon, they had somewhere to be in Atlanta on Tuesday night.

McHenry graduate Bobby Miller was making his major league debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers as starting pitcher against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Field.

“My first instinct was how are we going to make this work?” said Badgley, who was Miller’s pitching coach. “But we had to make it work. It’s something that if I didn’t go, I might regret it the rest of my life. You never know what will happen. At this point of the year, practices almost run themselves, so other coaches were able to step in. It was a pretty easy decision, it was a matter of how are we going to make it work?”

“It’s something that if I didn’t go, I might regret it the rest of my life. You never know what will happen.”

—  Zach Badgley, McHenry baseball assistant coach

McHenry assistant coaches Cody Freund and Rob Niemic took over Tuesday’s practice. Rockweiler, Badgley and McHenry athletic director Barry Burmeister hopped a morning flight to Atlanta and landed around 1 p.m.

They were not disappointed.

Miller, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound, heat-throwing righthander, threw five strong innings, striking out five and got the victory as the Dodgers beat the Braves 8-1.

Rockweiler and Badgley considered the logistics, but knew where they had to be on Tuesday night. Tracy Miller, Bobby’s mother, texted them over the weekend alerting them that it was going to happen. By Sunday morning, it was on social media that Miller was starting on Tuesday.

“It meant a ton (to be there),” Rockweiler said. “We worked it out. Tracy said, ‘We’ll get you tickets if you can get down here.’ I was going back and forth, ‘Can I make this work?’ Badge was like, ‘I’m going.’ My wife Stacy was like, ‘There is no way you’re not going.’ I had to go.

“Honestly, at this point in the season, the players can almost run practice themselves.”

Rockweiler, Badgley and Burmeister returned Wednesday morning and the Warriors defeated Round Lake 7-2 in their regional opener. Brandon Shannon and Ryan Nagel combined for a no-hitter in the win.

Bob and Tracy Miller got a lot of air time during the game, particularly from Access SportsNet, which carries Dodgers games.

“Apparently mom wore her emotions on the outside, pretty big-time,” Tracy Miller said, laughing. “It could have been worse. It was super exciting. I told myself I wasn’t going to touch my phone. I kept my phone in my back pocket and enjoy the moment and everything and not worry about people texting or calling or asking to take a picture or record. I needed to enjoy this, I didn’t need my phone in my hand.

“Emotional overload for sure in every good way possible. We had so many friends and family there. High school coaches, college coaches, athletic directors from high school and college, old teammates, it was amazing. We knew our group, but had a few other surprises. It was so nice to see.”

Bobby Miller was able to get almost 25 tickets for family and friends coming to the game. They saw Miller get through the first inning allowing one run, then settling in and working four more scoreless innings, throwing 100-mph fastballs and using four other pitches, which all were effective.

When Miller, who appeared stoic most of his outing, fanned the Braves’ Matt Olson to finish the fifth, he pumped his fists and let out a yell.

“It was a combination of trying to look the part, but he knew that was his last hitter and he was through the fifth to get a win,” Badgley said. “You can understand that.”

Rockweiler, Badgley and Burmeister got a couple minutes to speak with Miller after the game outside the clubhouse.

“He was super excited. He was excited so many people came to see him, family and friends,” Rockweiler said.

Badgley was thrilled they got to follow that part of Miller’s journey.

It’s just good to see that and see how happy his parents are,” Badgley said. “Even the two minutes we got to talk to him, how appreciative he is of everything everyone has done for him and want to see him play.”

Miller’s next start will be Monday against Washington at Dodgers Stadium. Tracy and Bob Miller will watch that one from home.

“I’m very proud of him,” Tracy said. “He was great. Everything he has tried to master and craft and work on worked for him. He changed things up so much. It was good to see him sequencing.

“A lot of it has to do with him and (catcher) Will (Smith) working together. it was great to see all of his other tools come out and not just one or two pitches. He had a lot of them and they were all working for him.”