Greenville’s Kyle Mills to play baseball for the Wright State University Lake Campus

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GREENVILLE – Greenville senior Kyle Mills will continue his baseball career as a pitcher and infielder at the Wright State University Lake Campus as he committed to the Lakers on Saturday afternoon.

“I think it’s amazing,” Mills said of continuing his baseball career in college. “It’s always been a dream for me, and I’m just very blessed to have this opportunity.”

Mills, the son of Jamie McGillivary and Steve Mills, was drawn to the Lake Campus because of its proximity to Greenville and its strong baseball program.

“It’s close so that’s a good thing, and I like it up there,” Mills said. “I like the players. I like the coach. It’s a great place.”

The Lakers, a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, currently are 11-9 overall this season. Last year they finished the season 27-18 overall and advanced to the Small College World Series for a second consecutive season.

“They’re very good so that will be nice for a winning program,” Mills said.

Mills made his college commitment following Greenville’s baseball game against Fort Recovery along with his high school teammate, Owen Paulus, who committed to the Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team.

“That’s a reason why I do this, getting to see those kids go out and sign their commitment letters,” Greenville baseball coach Eric Blumenstock said. “You know they go off and play college sports they’re going to be alright. They worked their tails off to get to that point, and it couldn’t happen to two nicer kids and two more hardworking kids. That’s just the accumulation of four years of putting in the effort in the offseason and putting the effort in in the summertime and just working on the grades.”

Last year Mills led Greenville with 42 1/3 innings on the mound, posting a 3-2 record and a 2.98 ERA. He had 24 strikeouts and was named to the American League’s special mention team by the Greater Western Ohio Conference.

“Kyle’s biggest strength has been across the board his control,” Blumenstock said. “I can’t remember a time where I ever felt like Kyle was really, really in trouble because he put himself there. He’s always around the strike zone. He’s generally in very good command when he’s out there.”

As a hitter Mills had a .346 on-base percentage during his junior season. He drove in 12 runs in 69 at-bats.

The Greenville senior is excited to have an opportunity to play multiple positions in college.

“I’m excited about it,” he said. “I know a lot of people only play like one position. I like being a double position player.”

Mills, who plans to study engineering, said he’ll consider transferring to Wright State’s main campus during his college years and play for the Raiders.

“Just go in hard and try my best,” Mills said of his college goals, “that’s all I can ask for.”

Blumenstock expects Mills to become stronger and continue to develop as a pitcher and hitter as he continues his baseball career in college.

“I think he’s going to be a high-80 kid on the mound when he gets in the weight room a little bit more and starts focusing,” the Green Wave coach said. “A lot of these kids play two or three, three or four sports during their high school career, and they get to college and play baseball, and that’s all they’re doing is baseball, and usually you see the kids add 6, 7, 8, 9 miles an hour to the fastball and double their power as far as hitting. So it’s going to be interesting to see what he does.”

Greenville senior Kyle Mills committed to play baseball at the Wright State University Lake Campus on Saturday.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Kyle-Mills-WEB-4.jpgGreenville senior Kyle Mills committed to play baseball at the Wright State University Lake Campus on Saturday. Kyle Shaner | The Daily Advocate

By Kyle Shaner

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Kyle Shaner may be reached at 937-569-4316. Follow me on Twitter @KShanerAdvocate or get updates on Facebook by searching Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com.

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