Hello, My Name Is: Martha Miller
The Medford senior, who’s been dreaming of playing college softball from a young age, signed with UW-Green Bay last week
MEDFORD, Wis. (WSAW) - Martha Miller knew pretty early that she wanted to play softball in college. She was so inspired watching her TV.
“Ever since I was a little girl I would always watch college softball and be like, ‘Woah, that’s pretty cool, like having those girls out there,” said Miller.
Last week, Miller made that dream a reality. The Medford senior signed her letter of intent Wednesday to continue her softball career next fall with UW-Green Bay. The dream’s been long in the making, but there were points where it felt far away.
“For a while, I thought it was like a distant thing, but it was cool the last couple of years to work hard and have that become a reality,” said Miller.
Even if the end goal felt far for Miller at points, her coaching staff knew she always had the talent in her. In fact, they saw it at a very young age.
“With her, we pretty much saw it in middle school. She was pretty well-established already by then,” said Medford head coach Virgil Berndt. “To see her have the success she’s had the last two years is awesome, so happy for her.”
Miller’s been a stand-out at Medford, sitting as the reigning two-time Great Northern Conference Player of the Year. The team’s ace pitcher and a presence at the plate, Berndt already is having mixed emotions about Miller’s departure.
“It’s awesome for one, but we’re going to see her leave after this year so that’ll be hard,” said Berndt.
Jokes aside, Miller is excited to continue at UW-GB, a place she knows is the perfect environment for her.
“A couple of years ago they kind of created a new environment and culture and it has a lot of team aspects, working hard,” said Miller. “Their motto is ‘On the rise to five,’ so they got these five pillars of their culture and it all leads to family and that was really important to me.”
Even though there’s great excitement for her collegiate future, Miller knows there’s still business to attend to in Medford, having hopes of a state appearance. Regardless, she’ll always be thankful for the memories made while being a Raider.
”It’s pretty special,” said Miller. “I love the coaches. I love the girls. It’s always been fun to go out to practice and go out to games. I’m going to treasure the Medford softball memories that I have.”
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