A pair of players from Lipscomb University, shortstop Maddux Houghton and catcher / first baseman Chris Bashlor, have been announced as the first two players who have signed contracts to play for the West Virginia Miners baseball team for the 2018 Prospect League season. The Miners announced the two contract signings on the afternoon of September 29 as the first two names that will be counted toward completing Miners’ roster that opens the 2018 Prospect League season.

 

Houghton will be looking forward to his debut season in collegiate baseball during the spring of 2018 at Lipscomb, a Nashville, TN school that is a member of the NCAA D-1 Atlantic Sun Conference.  A freshman from Dalton, GA, he had a fine scholastic diamond career at his hometown high school by having an overall .329 batting average (95-for-289) in 93 career games.   These totals include 19 extra base hits, 105 runs scored, and 41 RBI. He demonstrated patience and a good eye at the plate as he also drew 71 walks for his high school career.  

 

The 6'0", 214 pound Bashlor will also be looking forward to his debut season this spring of 2018 as a member of the Bisons of Lipscomb University. Athletically, he is currently classified as a college redshirt freshman and projects to be a fine addition to Lipscomb's catching corps on the heels of three award-winning high school seasons for Calvary Day Baptist Prep School.  His 2014 freshman scholastic season saw him named first team All-State in Georgia and he followed that in 2015 by being named as a third team Perfect Game All-American.  As a high school senior in 2016, the Richmond Hill, GA resident was named "Player of the Year" by the Savannah Morning News newspaper for a season that saw him lead the area with an outstanding .587 batting average and racking up a .714 on-base percentage.  Defensively as a catcher, he had just three errors and a .980 fielding percentage while helping the Cavaliers to a GHSA private schools Final Four berth.   

 

The Prospect League is the premier collegiate wood bat summer baseball league in the Midwest. It has been operating in its current form since 2009 while serving the summer baseball needs of top collegiate players. The West Virginia Miners have been a member of the league since the beginning of the 2010 season.  The team has reached the postseason playoffs in seven of their eight seasons in the Prospect League to date. These seven postseason appearances have included five trips to the league championship final series with three of the trips resulting with the Miners being crowned as Prospect League Champions (2012, 2013, 2016).