Francis Marion signs Waxhaw righthander

Francis Marion University baseball coach Art Inabinet has announced the signing of right-handed pitcher TJ Miller of Waxhaw, N.C., to a national letter of intent to attend FMU this fall and play for the Patriots in 2010.

Miller, 6-3 195-pounds, is a graduate of Marvin Ridge High School, where he played for coaches Mark Mennitt and Aaron Hammers.

This past season, he was 0-1 with a 5.35 earned run average and averaged nearly six strikeouts per nine innings. He was the recipient of his squad’s Teammate of the Year Award, while helping lead the Mavericks to the third round of the North Carolina 3A state playoffs.

As a junior, he helped Marvin Ridge to a 19-5 record, the South Piedmont Conference title, and a No. 5 ranking in the final 3A state poll.

“TJ has a bright future given his size and arm strength,” said Inabinet. “He throws in the low 80’s and has a good change-up. I project him as a good college pitcher. He will mesh well with our current staff.”

Francis Marion loses four seniors off last year’s 38-15-1 squad that finished second during the Peach Belt Conference regular season, won the PBC Tournament title, and earned its fourth NCAA Division II national tournament bid in the past seven years, placing third at the Southeast Regional. The Patriots were ranked 14th in the end-of-the-season Collegiate Baseball Magazine NCAA Division II Top 30 poll.

He becomes the seventh newcomer to join the Patriot program for the 2010 season.