SCOOBA – Former East Mississippi Community College all-conference infielder Tyler Miller was selected by the Boston Red Sox in Monday’s ninth round (256th pick overall) of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft.

Miller, who spent the past two seasons playing at Auburn University, was previously drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 23rd round (684th overall pick) of the 2018 MLB Draft following a standout prep career at Spanish Fort (Ala.) High School.

During his lone season on the Scooba campus as a freshman shortstop for Coach Brett Kimbrel’s 2019 EMCC team, Miller was named MACJC All-State First Team after leading the Lions in virtually every offensive category, including batting average (.336), home runs (7) and runs batted in (36).  The left-handed hitter also had nine doubles and five triples to account for his team-high 21 extra-base hits, 91 total bases and .599 slugging percentage, while ranking as the lone Lions’ player to start all of EMCC’s 41 games.

This past season as Auburn’s starting first baseman, the 6-foot-2, 193-pound Miller led the Tigers with 16 home runs and 61 runs batted in.  In addition, he ranked second on the club in hits (65) total bases (125) and slugging percentage (.601), while tying for second with 38 runs scored and finishing third with his .313 batting average.  In being selected to the 2021 ABCA/Rawlings All-Southeast Region First Team, Miller ranked among the SEC’s top-10 statistical leaders (for all games) in homers (T-6^th), RBIs (T-7^th) and slugging percentage (9^th).

Rated as a top-500 player nationally and a top-50 player in Alabama coming out of the prep ranks, Miller was a two-time Class 6A All-State standout at Spanish Fort High School.  As a prep senior for the Toros, he was selected to the 2018 Alabama Sports Writers Association’s All-State First Team and named Class 6A Hitter of the Year after batting .403 with 13 homers and 34 RBIs.

In becoming the fifth East Mississippi Community College baseball player to be drafted in the past eight years, Miller rates as the Lions’ highest selection in the MLB summer amateur draft since pitcher Tom Hostetler was chosen in the eighth round (204th overall) of the 1987 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants after completing his collegiate career at Delta State University.

Prior to this year, EMCC most recently had pitcher Vijay Miller (14^th round; 408^th overall pick) and outfielder Marcus Ragan (15^th round; 461^st overall pick) selected by the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox, respectively, during the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft.  Prior to that during consecutive years, EMCC had outfielder LeDarious Clark (12^th round; 348^th overall pick) selected by the Texas Rangers in 2015 and middle infielder Chase Nyman (32^nd round; 951^st overall pick) chosen by the Seattle Mariners in 2014.

Clark, out of Meridian’s Southeast Lauderdale High School, is currently a seventh-year pro playing for the Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers, a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball that last year became the first professional partner league of Major League Baseball.  Clark, who also played football for the EMCC Lions, completed his collegiate baseball career at the University of West Florida.