Miners Sign Two Collegiate All-Stars
March 19, 2013 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners and manager Mike Pinto have announced the signings of outfielder Alan Cheatham and infielder Jon Eisen.
Cheatham joins the Miners following a four year career at PrincipiaCollege where he had a career batting average of .409. Last season, he hit .444 with 15 doubles, two home runs and one triple.
In 38 games, he recorded 41 runs batted in. He had an on base percentage of .531, a slugging percentage of .617 and an OPS of .1148.
"Alan was recommended to me by my friend former MLB all-star and former Nationals minor league hitting coach Matt Nokes", said Pinto. "Matt has worked with Alan for the last couple of years and believes Alan will be a successful professional hitter. The scouting reports and his successful and dominant college numbers convinced us that Alan could be a guy who can help us on a few levels this spring."
Cheatham was a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team selection where he led the league in hitting. He was third in the league in hits, first in doubles and third in runs batted in.
His .444 batting average placed him 13th in the country in Division III. In his college career he has struck out less than 10% of his at bats.
Eisen completed his collegiate career at ColumbiaUniversity where he was named First Team All-Ivy League. A co-captain and switch hitter, Eisen hit .360 this season with a .449 on base percentage and a .924 OPS. He scored 37 runs and stole a team high 13 bases. During Ivy League play, he hit .446 and recorded a .534 on base percentage which won him the Blair Bat Award for the leagues highest batting average.
Last season, he hit safely in 17 of the 20 Ivy League games and carried an 18-game hitting streak, the longest among Ivy League players in 2012.
"Jon is a very versatile player, can play multiple positions on the field, hits from both sides and has some speed to run the bases", said Pinto. "He provides us with a lot of flexibility and ways to help our club. Jon will be a nice addition to our roster in the spring."
Eisen played winter ball in Australia before returning to the United States to prepare for this upcoming season. In twelve games for the Manley Eagles, he hit .449 with two doubles and two triples in 47 at bats. He also stole ten bases while carrying a .1258 OPS and was named to play in the league all-star game.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2012 Frontier League Champions and have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year three times since its inception. It has also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007.
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