Averill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where his father was a star for the Indians. The younger Averill threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He played college baseball for the University of Oregon (UO) from 1951 to 1953, and while a sophomore had a .439 batting average. Averill was the UO's first All-American in baseball, and was named to the UO Hall of Fame in 1997.
