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Miners Ink Schwendel, Fischer

by Press Release
The Southern Illinois Miners announce the signings of pitchers Paul Schwendel and Derek Fischer.

Schwendel joins the Miners following three seasons in the Texas Rangers organization. Originally drafted in the 40th round in the 2012 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, Schwendel reached as high as High-A Hickory.  In his three pro seasons, the 6’5”, 220-pound right-hander has carried an ERA of 4.45 with 115 strikeouts against 112 hits and 51 walks in 117 1/3 innings pitched. Schwendel also played his college baseball at Emory University, where he was a teammate of former Miners shortstop Andrew Cohn.

“Paul has the capability of filling multiple roles for us,” Miners manager Mike Pinto said. “He has a big physical presence, is a hard thrower and has had success in both the rotation and the bullpen. We are happy to have him joining us in the spring.”

Fischer joins the Miners from the Wellington Heat semi-pro team, an organization that has previously sent former Miners All-Stars David Harden and Jake McMurran as well as Drew Moffitt, Nick Starnes, Brad Arnett and Anthony Collazo to Southern Illinois.

Fischer comes off a spectacular summer season that earned him Jayhawk League Pitcher of the Year honors while shattering league records. In seven starts, he went 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA, striking out 48 and walking just four over 50 innings pitched. In his appearance in the NBC World Series, Fischer threw five scoreless innings, striking out five and walking one while allowing no hits. The right-hander played his college baseball at the University of Sioux Falls.

“Derek comes from an organization that has sent a long line of very successful players to the Miners including multiple all-stars,” Pinto said. “He is a command pitcher who is coming off a couple of very strong seasons and reports are very strong that he is the kind of guy that has success with us. We expect that he will compete for a spot in our rotation.”
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