University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Alums, Mildren And Soto, Win League Championships
9/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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PITTSBURGH - Two years ago, Elvin Soto was catching games for Ethan Mildren during Pitt’s record-setting 2013 season. Now, the duo is celebrating League Championships with their respective professional teams on opposite sides of the country.
Mildren was an integral part for the Fort Myers Miracle while Soto split time behind the plate for the Hillsboro Hops. The Miracle is the Minnesota Twins affiliate in Class A Advanced Florida State League. The Hops play in in the Class A Short Season Northwest League and their parent club is the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Mildren got the call to start game two in the best-of-five series. Coming off one of his best performances of campaign in his final start of the regular season – 7.0 innings allowing no runs and three hits – Mildren kept the Daytona bats silent for five innings. Despite walking four batters and allowing five hits, Mildren let his defense give him a helping hand as no runs came across to score in his last outing of the year.
“I put myself in a lot of trouble with some walks and put myself in a couple of jams,” said Mildren of his game two start. “But I threw just one pitch at a time and made sure I was always just one pitch away – whether it be a groundball double play or right at somebody. It was great being able to get out with zeros considering there were so many base runners.”
The Florida State League Championship is the first-ever for the Miracle in the 22-year history since moving to Fort Myers in 1992.
“It’s definitely a fun experience considering it was the first time ever for the team,” said Mildren. “It was definitely one of the best teams in Miracle history. And to be a part of the championship it was really fun.”
Mildren completed his second year in the professional ranks with a 6-8 record and 4.63 earned run average in 23 starts.
A Northwest All-Star in just his second year in the pros, Soto finished the season with career-highs in every category. His .256 average in 51 games, 26 runs, 46 hits, 10 doubles, five triples, three homers and 23 RBIs were all personal bests. Soto’s five triples ranked second in the entire league while his 10 doubles and 23 runs batted in were fourth-best on the team.
Hillsboro defeated Boise in both games of the semifinals before taking down Vancouver in two games in the championship series. Soto didn’t see any action during the Hops’ playoff run.
Both players ended their Pitt careers in 2013 when each was selected in the MLB Draft that summer. Mildren was picked in the 12th round by the Twins and Soto was grabbed four rounds later by the Diamondbacks.
