By: Ryan Hill — Public Relations
Madison, WI — April 10, 2013. The Madison Mallards have announced the signing of junior pitcher Jordan Mills of St. Mary’s University and sophomore infielder Erik Forgione from the University of Washington.
Mills, a 6’5″, 208-pound southpaw from Shingle Springs, California is heading to Madison after his third full season with the Gaels. So far in 2013, Mills is 2-3 with a 3.05 ERA in eight starts. He has 43 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched.
Mills had a mark of 4-5 and compiled a 5.40 ERA during his sophomore season in 2012, where he appeared in 17 games and started in eight of them. His highlight of the season came on March 2, 2012 when he threw seven scoreless innings and struck out three batters against Saint Louis. He threw 56.2 innings on the year, which was good for fourth on the team.
Mills was named to the All-West Coast Conference Freshman Team in 2011 after leading the Gaels with 22 appearances, four of which were starts. He posted an ERA of 3.11, which was the seventh-best in the conference, and averaged 6.99 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. He also held left-handed batters to a .125 batting average.
Mills made 10 appearances, including eight starts, for the Peninsula Oilers of the Alaska Baseball League in the summer of 2011 while leading the team to the Alaska Baseball League Championship. He led the team with seven wins and posted a 2.25 ERA over 48 innings of work. He finished with just two losses on the year and held opponents to a .177 batting average.
Mills was a two-year letter winner at Oak Ridge High School. Mills went 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA in his senior season. He was named to the First Team All-Sierra Valley Conference team as a junior after leading the league with a 0.84 ERA and a perfect 7-0 record.
Forgione, a 6’1″, 166-pound sophomore from Chehalis, Washington, was selected by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 33rd round of the 2011 MLB Draft. He has appeared in 24 games for the Huskies, including 11 starts. He has gotten off to a slow start, and is hitting .143 so far but has been stellar in the field with a .983 fielding percentage while playing shortstop and second base.
Forgione played in 46 games as a true freshman for the Huskies in 2012, starting in 27. He started in 13 of the Huskies’ 30 Pac-12 matchups. He hit .173 with three doubles, a triple and eight RBIs in 75 at-bats. He played for the Brewster Whitecaps, a team in the Cape Cod League, last summer and hit .243 with eight RBIs in 70 at-bats.
Forgione attended William F. West High School in Chehalis, Washington, and compiled a 91-9 record during his four seasons on varsity. He was part of the 2010 State Championship team during his junior season and finished third in state during his sophomore and senior seasons. He also won three conference titles.
Forgione was named first-team all-state as a junior and a senior and was on the first-team All-Evergreen Conference team three times. He was also second-team all-state as a sophomore.
The Mallards will host their season opener against the Eau Claire Express on May 29th at 7:05 pm at the “Duck Pond.” Single-game tickets will go on sale April 27th.
The Madison Mallards are part of the 16-team Northwoods League. The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any other Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America. In 2013, the Northwoods League will celebrate its 20th season.
