ELKVILLE, IL - The West Virginia Miners have announced this week that they are once again dipping into the talent pool of the Midwest by adding a pair of pitchers from the University of St. Francis (IN) in the form of Noah Freimuth and Anthony Miller.

Even though Freimuth is playing both as a pitcher and as a position player in college, his first priority for the Miners in 2019 will be when he is on the mound.  Prior to arriving in Beckley for the summer, he will have completed his junior collegiate season at the University of St. Francis, IN, an NAIA member institution of the Crossroads League.

Through the Cougars first 15 games of the spring of 2019, Noah continued to demonstrate his versatility, whether it be on the mound or at the plate. During that time period, he was called into service for five relief appearances on the mound, where he notched one save and struck out 7 hitters versus one walk in 5.1 innings of work. That was just part of his contributions to the Cougars as he was in the starting lineup for all 15 of the team’s games during that same stretch.  Then, as a position player, he is making a case for the Miners’ to consider his hitting prowess as an additional weapon for the Beckley, WV-based team’s 2019 entry in the Prospect League as he logged a .222 batting average (12-for-54) with 3 doubles, a triple and scoring 9 runs while driving home 7 more.

His previous sophomore season at USF saw Freimuth again show his skills with the bat as he ended the season with an 18-game hitting streak. Prior to arriving at University of St. Francis, Freimuth was an NCAA D-I recruit that originally signed with Purdue University.  He drew that kind of attention from D-I schools as the result of his last two high school seasons at Bishop-Dwenger High School in his hometown of Fort Wayne, IN.  There as a junior in 2014, he was an All-State selection as a first baseman.  Even in high school, you can see his talents continually transitioning to highlighting his arm as in his high school senior year of 2015 he was named as a first-team pitcher on the All-Summit Athletic Conference Team.

As for Miller, he is a big 6-3, 230-pound right-hander with a commanding presence on the mound.  He projects to see a lot of action among the members of the Miners’ pitching corps during the 2019 Prospect League season. Prior to arriving in Beckley for the summer, he will have completed his junior collegiate season at the University of St. Francis, IN, an NAIA member institution of the Crossroads League. He made four appearances (three starts) on the mound among the USF Cougars’ first 15 games in the spring of 2019. USF is Anthony’s second collegiate stop as he previously pitched for Lakeland Community College.

He is a 2015 graduate of Northrop High School in his hometown of Fort Wayne, IN. There he was a three-sport athlete, wearing the Northrop colors in baseball, basketball, and football.