Josh Milleville hoped he would return to Division I someday. But, in order to reach that goal again, he had to get his health back and start over.
Two years ago, as a freshman, Milleville was the first reliever out of the Fairleigh Dickinson bullpen, retiring five in his first two starts. But in his pursuit towards excellence, Milleville tried too hard, grew frustrated when games went awry and lost his role.
The next setback came after he left the Knights one year later and returned home. Milleville experienced elbow pain in his throwing arm, sidelining him for the entire year, causing him to restore the range of motion in his shoulder, hips and thoracic spine.
Milleville, a Starpoint graduate, made his return to the mound this season as a sophomore, this time playing JUCO for SUNY Niagara. Feeling his best for the first time in three to four years, Milleville went 8-0 in 11 appearances, had a 2.28 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 55 ⅓ innings for the Thunderwolves, earning visits from scouts for the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants.
Now after a long trip back, Milleville is finally heading back to his goal of being a Division I baseball player for his final two years of eligibility. In a social media post Sunday, the Lockport resident announced his commitment to Radford University of the Big South.
“It feels good,” Milleville said. “There’s a lot that has gone into this decision. Been a lot of different locations over the past couple of years. But it was good. Feels good to know where I’m going next and I’m excited to get to work there.”
Committing to Radford wasn’t Milleville’s initial decision. Before his season at SUNY Niagara began, Milleville signed his letter of intent with Stephen F. Austin of the WAC. But following the season, coach Johnny Cardenas retired and Milleville didn’t want to wait for the position to be filled and asked for his release on May 30.
Milleville received interest from other Division I schools, including Northern Kentucky, Troy, Missouri and Central Michigan. But a 70-minute Zoom call with Radford head coach Alex Guerra and his coaching staff on June 19 won Milleville over.
The Zoom call was the longest Milleville had with any coach by 30 minutes. But, from the call with the Highlanders, Milleville found a team in Division I that stressed development and individuality.
“There’s going to be every opportunity in the world for me to go on there and be one of their starting pitchers,” Milleville said. “Nothing in any high level sport is given, it’s all earned. So, it’s up to me now to go and earn the spot but I’m going to have every opportunity possible to go in there and earn a lot of playing time and to throw a lot of innings.”
Milleville focused on his mental approach in the game with mental performance coach Alan Jaeger, who has worked with over 200 professional athletes, including Barry Zito and Dan Haren, for over 30 years. But with his progression on the mound, Milleville credited former SUNY Niagara pitching coach C.J. Gonzales for the time spent together this season.
When he arrived with the Thunderwolves, Milleville threw a maximum speed of 88 to 90 mph. As he now heads to Virginia, Milleville now throws a fastball up to 92 mph, slider and changeup in the lower 80s and a cutter between 81 to 86 mph.
“When there was a question I had (asked), ‘How do I want to throw this pitch? How do I want to make my slider move the way I need it to move? Or how do I throw my fastball so it comes out of my hand with the right spin?’ C.J. was that guy for me,” Milleville said. “He was very good at understanding what was going on.”
What Milleville was missing couldn’t be taught through watching film. While he had the knowledge of the game already, Milleville just needed a chance to pitch again after being sidelined for so long to boost his morale.
“He had all the tools,” SUNY Niagara head coach Matt Clingersmith said. “He just needed the guidance and the confidence in someone to believe him and I think that’s the best thing we did is give him the capital to believe in him and told him he was our ace from day one. … He’s working on a breaking ball and, if he gets that fourth pitch and another year getting stronger, he’s got a chance to do some great things for Niagara County.”