Pictured Above (Left to Right): Nolan Long & Ian Miller (Credit: Rancho Cucamongo Quakes & Tacoma Rainiers)
Glendale | Peoria, AZ – For the second straight season, the Wagner College baseball program will be represented in the 27th edition of the Arizona Fall League, which is set to commence on Tuesday, October 9.
Former Seahawk hurler Nolan Long ('15) and outfielder
Ian Miller ('13) have been chosen to compete in this season's Arizona Fall League. Long, who is a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, will be playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs while Miller, who is part of the Seattle Mariners' club, will be suiting up for the Peoria Javelinas. The two squads will be squaring off against each other in the opener on October 9th.
Long and Miller are the third and fourth Seahawk baseball alums to partake in the Arizona Fall League. A season ago, 2015 Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year,
Nick Dini, represented the Kansas City Royals as a member of the Surprise Saguaros. Former Green & White hurler and 2009 American League Rookie of the Year and two-time American League All-Star, Andrew Bailey, pitched for the Phoenix Desert Dogs back in 2008, appearing in 11 games, while posting a 1.29 ERA and a save in 14.0 innings of work. Bailey also struck out 16 batters and walked just one.
"Our program is extremely proud to have Nolan and Ian representing Wagner baseball & their MLB organizations in this prestigious Arizona Fall League," commented eighth-year Wagner head coach,
Jim Carone. "This is a tremendous honor for them individually, being recognized by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Seattle Mariners as top prospects to be selected to the AFL. Nolan and Ian are extremely talented baseball players, but, are even better people, and we could not be more proud and excited to follow their progress this fall and for the duration of their professional careers."
Long, who was a 16th round pick back in 2015, is coming off his fourth professional season, in which he went a combined 8-0 with a 3.06 ERA pitching at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Class A Advanced) and the Tulsa Drillers (Double-A). At Rancho, Long, a 2015 All-Northeast Conference (NEC) First Team selection, was 5-0 with a minuscule 1.03 ERA in 19 games. He went 3-for-3 in save opportunities in 35.0 innings of work.
The 6'10" right-hander, who also competed on the Seahawk basketball team during his collegiate career, dominated hitters this season, holding the opposition to a .151 batting average with 52 strikeouts to just 12 walks. After holding opponents to just a .146 batting average with 20 strikeouts, Long was promoted to Double-A Tulsa on April 24. After making ten appearances with the Drillers, from April 28 through May 29, Long was sent back to Rancho on June 1.
It was there that the towering righty began to reshape his delivery and excelled, going 2-0 with a 1.14 ERA to go along with 27 strikeouts to just four walks while batters were connecting at a .157. The Drillers brought Long back up to the Double-A squad on July 5, where he remained and proved to be a vital part of the Drillers' postseason run, as the team captured its first Texas League title in 20 years. Over his last ten games of the season, Long went 1-0 for Tulsa, with 3.38 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched while striking out 14 batters to just eight walks (2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio).
Miller, who was tabbed the 2017 Ken Griffey Jr. Minor League Hitter of the Year by the Seattle Mariners Organization, concluded his sixth professional season with the Mariners' organization at Triple-A Tacoma. Appearing in 114 games, Miller batted .261 with two home runs and 41 RBIs. He scored 60 runs (third-most on the Rainiers) while connecting on 16 doubles and three triples.
The speedy Miller was a threat on the base paths as well, swiping 33 bases while being caught just nine times. The 33 steals were the second most in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), behind Myles Straw (Fresno Grizzlies | Houston Astros), who stole 35 bags while being caught just three times.
At the plate, Miller produced 31 multi-hit performances, in which he had three hits thrice, the last coming back on August 14 when he went 3-for-5 with two doubles and drove in three RBIs in a 9-5 road victory at Albuquerque (Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies). Miller had his most productive month of the season in April, batting a robust .324 (22-for-68) with a home run, 12 RBI and four steals. He posted his highest OPS as well of .774, highlighted by a .397 slugging percentage. As a leadoff hitter in 70 games, he batted .261 while being slotted down in the order, in the seventh spot, he batted .318 in six games.
Hundreds of future Major League All-Stars have come through the Fall League since its inception, including Mike Piazza, the first AFL alum to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. There have been 29 Rookie of the Year Award winners, 17 MVP Award winners (20 total awards, with
Albert Pujols winning three) and six Cy Young Award recipients (eight awards, with Roy Halladay and
Max Scherzer winning twice each) who put the finishing touches on their Minor League development in Arizona over the two and a half decades of the league's existence.
The AFL is owned and operated by MLB, and the league plays a Monday-Saturday schedule. The championship game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 17, at Scottsdale Stadium. The 13th Fall Stars Game is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 3, at Surprise Stadium. Game times are 12:35 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. MT, with some noted exceptions in the schedule. The Bowman Hitting Challenge will be held at Sloan Park on Saturday, Oct. 13.
The Fall League's six venues remain Camelback Ranch-Glendale (Glendale Desert Dogs), Peoria Sports Complex (Peoria Javelinas), Salt River Fields (Salt River Rafters), Scottsdale Stadium (Scottsdale Scorpions), Sloan Park (Mesa Solar Sox) and Surprise Stadium (Surprise Saguaros).
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