Langhorne Fulfilling a Dream

Blake Dowson

Photo: Miles Langhorne (David Langhorne)

Miles Langhorne, a 2021 righthanded pitcher from Greenwich, Conn., can point to a couple moments that made him absolutely positive he wanted to play college baseball at Vanderbilt.

Actually, check that. There were a couple moments that made him absolutely positive he was going to play at Vanderbilt.

Talking to Langhorne, it’s abundantly clear that his determination is through the roof. He’s set certain goals in his life. And he’s put blinders on, determined to make those goals a reality.

“It’s always been my dream to play in the Big Leagues. It still is,” Langhorne said in an interview with Perfect Game. “I thought going to college would give me a better chance at doing so. It was going to further my development. I watched the National Championship in 2014 when Vanderbilt beat Virginia and I was like, ‘You know what? I want to go there. Dogpiling on that mound, that’s what I want to do for four years, and then I want to go do that on a Major League field.’ I was younger then, so I realize now it’s a little harder to do all that in four years. But that’s all something I want to do, and I think Vanderbilt gives me a great opportunity to do it.”

It’s not the natural baseball story. Langhorne’s father didn’t play professional baseball and pass it along to him. His father, David, is British. He doesn’t have any baseball in him, according to Miles. He was a rugby player, so the athleticism did transfer. His mother is a tennis player.

When David moved to the States, however, he picked up a love for baseball right away. He took Miles to a Yankee game when he was young, and Miles knew he was going to be a baseball player.

He’s a determined guy.

The moment that cemented in his mind that he was going to attend Vanderbilt University came this past year.

The Commodores were playing Duke in the Super Regionals. They had lost Game 1.

“I saw Kumar Rocker pitch in the Super Regional game against Duke when he struck out 19 and threw a no-hitter. I looked at that and thought it was a testament to not only his work ethic, but the program at Vanderbilt. It’s second to none and that’s why they’re able to put guys out there that can play baseball like that. I want an opportunity to compete for a spot to do what he did.”

Langhorne said he thinks Rocker’s performance in the NCAA Tournament might make prep players give college baseball more of a consideration.

Rocker is one of the highest-ranked prospects to ever make it to college baseball. He was a Perfect Game All-American. The No. 8 overall prospect in his class. Most of those guys sign pro contracts after being drafted in the first round.

Vanderbilt has made a habit of convincing those guys to come play college ball for a while before taking their talents to the pro ranks. Jack Leiter, the No. 15 overall prospect in the 2019 class, is the next great example.

Langhorne is the No. 184 prospect in the 2021 class. He’s also from an area in the United States that doesn’t get a ton of baseball love. There isn’t a ton of exposure up there.

That’s why Langhorne went down to Georgia and competed in the 2019 Southeast Prospect Showcase in late August. He was told that he would get a lot more exposure if he headed south and played against the cream of the crop in prep baseball.

It made sense to him. It was another step toward his goal of earning his way to Vanderbilt. Being from the Northeast and playing against a bunch of southern guys didn’t bother him at all either. He felt right at home against them, and it showed.

“I knew going in that I would be playing against a lot of guys that would end up going through the higher echelons of baseball,” he said of the Southeast Showcase. “It’s not going to matter whether you’re from the Northeast, the South, or wherever. There are guys in the Big Leagues from Japan. So I didn’t really feel out of my comfort zone. It’s still a game, and you’ve got to play the game.”

Langhorne found himself on the Top Prospect List for the Southeast Showcase, and found himself fielding phone calls from the coaches at Vanderbilt.

Turns out setting goals and working as hard as you can to toward that goal can get you places.

“I have no idea if they were there or not,” Langhorne said of the Vanderbilt coaches attending the showcase. “I just know that they saw it somewhere, whether it be on the [Perfect Game] website or Instagram or Twitter page.

“I was talking to Coach [Scott] Brown on Sept. 1 and another time after Sept. 1, and he made the scholarship offer on the second phone call. I ended up committing on the third phone call we had.”

Langhorne was up to 93 mph at the Southeast Showcase. He credits that to his pitching coach and trainer.

A lot of people were in on his dream of going to Nashville and playing for Vanderbilt.

“It’s just getting in the weight room every day and getting bigger, faster, and stronger,” Langhorne said. “Doing everything I could to achieve the goal I had of playing for Vanderbilt for Coach Corbin and going on to the Major Leagues. I was determined to do anything I could to make that happen, and I’ve been blessed enough to have fulfilled the first step.”

PERFECTGAME.TV

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