LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KTSM) – Centennial High School senior Steven Milam is living out every young baseball player’s dream.
The opportunity to go play for one of the best college baseball programs in the entire nation and the chance to possibly go pro is on the table for the 18-year-old in 2023.
“It’d be great to go win a national championship at LSU and be with my boys, Jay Johnson and the coaches,” Milam said. “But it’s always been a dream to get drafted out of high school. It’s obviously a dream come true, so it’s a win-win situation, but whatever happens, happens. That’s just how I’ve seen it.”
Attending LSU has always been a big dream of Milam’s, so much so that he committed to the program during his freshman year at Centennial High School.
“I saw Alex Bregman play in the College World Series and he made that spinning play and then I just saw the fans go crazy and I was like, that’s just where I want to be,” Milam said. “It was just the right place in my heart. I feel like that’s where I could see myself thrive in that environment with those coaches and those people.”
Milam made it official and signed his National Letter of Intent to LSU in Nov. 2022.
On the other end, the LSU signee is also a Top 100 prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft in July.
MLB.com listed the 5’8” switching-hitting middle infielder as the No. 100 prospect.
That has led to a lot of attention from Major League Baseball team scouts. Milam told KTSM that the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers are just some of the many teams that have interacted with him.
“I try not to pay attention to it just so I don’t get in my own head, but it’s been a lot.” Milam said.
Milam is in his senior year of high school and knows he will have to make some big decisions when it comes to his baseball future in the next few months.
“I mean it’s stressful. I feel like everybody thinks it’s just like easy. Like, ‘oh, he’s just playing baseball’ but I mean, you have bad days, and you have your good days,” Milam said. “I mean, that’s the life I chose and what I want, and I feel like it is all going to pay off at the end.”
So, Milam has some big decisions to make on deck, but right now he is focused on finishing high school off with a bang on the field and in the classroom.
“I am just enjoying it right now. I am focused on school and my final, but I am also focused on winning that state championship,” Milam said. “Yeah, the draft is going to come, college is going to come, everything is going to come, but I am focused on this district championship this last week of regular season and then the state championship.”
Milam is currently putting together his best year of high school baseball. The 18-year-old is batting. .662 and has collected 43 hits, seven of those being homeruns, in 65 at-bats so far this season.
Milam and the Centennial Hawks enter the last week of the regular season with one goal in mind: winning the District 3-5A title.
Centennial and Las Cruces High School are currently tied for first place in the standings after Las Cruces won the first game of the series on Monday.
Winner of the series will essentially win the district title. Centennial and Las Cruces will finish off the series with double-header action on Thursday at the Field of Dreams in Las Cruces, New Mexico. First game is scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. MT and the second is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. MT.
