Two Eastern pitchers will be looking to make it to the next level this week.

Mike Recchia, a senior right-hander, and Josh Mueller, a junior right-hander, will be going to the 2010 MLB Draft. The draft began yesterday and ends tomorrow.

“It’s great for the program. We can say we have two players going to the draft in the top 10 rounds,” assistant pitching coach Skylar Meade said. “They’re great examples for younger guys and for guys we are recruiting that ‘hey look, this is what you can be,'” he said.

Recchia is excited about the draft, while at the same time he doesn’t feel pressured by the anticipation of possibly being a professional baseball player.

“I keep it in the back of my head,” he said. “I live life like a 21-year-old should.”

Mueller has been playing baseball since T-ball and realized his love for pitching when he was a junior in high school.

He said he realized he was better at striking people out instead of swinging the bat.

Since childhood he has developed an attachment for baseball.

“This year was more focused on baseball,” he said. “To get the chance to go play professional baseball and give up school doesn’t really bother me. Going and playing professional baseball is what I wanted to do since I was a little kid.”

According to Meade, making a professional-prospect baseball player goes beyond the prospect-it’s about a lot of people working together.

“Josh is supposed to be a top 5 draft pick and Mike is supposed to be a top 10, and I would be more than shocked if they don’t fit into that category,” Meade said. “It makes my job of preparing for next year difficult.”

Charles LeGrand can be reached 581-7942 or at crlegrand@eiu.edu.

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