Eastern Illinois signed 19-year old incoming freshman Matt Miller yesterday to play Panther baseball next season.

Miller, the eldest son of Eastern basketball coach Mike Miller, will be a graduate of Charleston High School as of June 1.

Miller has played two sports, basketball and baseball, the majority of his high school career, but he said he has primarily concentrated on basketball during high school. But things changed his senior season at Charleston.

Miller has posted good numbers his senior season with baseball. Miller is 9-2 this season with 1.41 ERA.

“I realized when I started baseball this year, that this is something I would want to do more of,” he said.

The Charleston baseball team is 21-10 this year and will face Alton in a regional game tomorrow.

He insists that his mental state is narrowed in on tomorrow’s game.

“My focus is on the regional,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about the signing, but the regional game in front of me has all my focus.”

But just because his focus is on tomorrow’s game does not mean he is not happy about his signing of his letter of intent to Eastern.

“I was really excited,” Miller said. “This is where I wanted to go.”

Miller mentioned that one of the reasons he is happy he will be attending Eastern is because he will be able to stay closer with his family, a fact that his father is happy with as well.

“Well, I think any parent would be excited that about that,” he said. “When you know your kid is going in to a good situation, you get the best of both worlds.”

Mike is also happy that his son will be getting more training and emphasis on his pitching techniques.

“He’s never had the attention on his pitching,” he said. “He’s never really watched himself on video. All the coaching he will get will be a real benefit.”

Panthers head coach Jim Schmitz agreed that Matt will benefit from the coaching because he sees Matt’s untapped potential.

“He didn’t even play last summer,” Schmitz said. “I think he’s the whole package. His athleticism, his size and his arm action are real good.”

Schmitz said that Matt has been clocked in at 86 mph with a radar gun and can see Matt increasing his throw to 90 mph and up. He said it depends on his workout training and how Matt will adjust with his rhythm and balance.

Matt himself says he can see himself throwing between 87 to 88 mph, but is hopeful that he may be throwing 89 mph by next season.

Some of Eastern’s current baseball players offered some advice about Matt joining the team.

“Especially for next year, since this year was basically an all senior team, that he has every chance to play,” outfielder Brett Nommensen said. “No one has a for sure spot.”

Graduating senior first basemen Erik Huber said he felt Matt would be a great addition to the team.

“I think he’s obviously going to help the team,” Huber said. “I’ve seen him play basketball. He’s a natural athlete.”

But Matt said he’s not too worried about the college athletic environment.

“I’ve been around college sports my entire life,” he said.