Eric Minshall joins Miners as pitching coach Ohio native joins Southern Illinois from Pirates organization

MARION - The Southern Illinois Miners announce that they have hired Eric Minshall to be their pitching coach for the 2020 season. He replaces Tyler Martin, who had been the pitching coach for the last two years, and who left the team due to scheduling conflicts with his college team.

Minshall spent last season as the pitching coach for the Bristol Pirates, a rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Appalachian League. The Pirates' pitching staff posted a 4.09 team ERA under his watch, which ranked fourth in the league and was just 0.04 runs behind the third-place team.

The Ohio native has over 20 years of coaching experience. Prior to his time with Bristol, he served for five seasons as the pitching coach at Miami University Hamilton in Hamilton, Ohio. While he was there, he helped lead the Harriers to 170 wins and three straight Ohio Regional Campus Conference titles from 2016-18. Minshall also owns the Cincinnati Throwing Club, an acclaimed pitching performance center designed for biomechanics and kinetic development of young athletes.

"First, I would like to thank COO and manager Mike Pinto, ownership, and the front office for giving me this opportunity," Minshall said. "The championship legacy that has been established here is second to none. My family and I are excited to join the Miners organization. I will work diligently to have a positive impact on our pitching staff, and I am eager to hit the ground running in pursuit of a championship in 2020."

"Eric is going to have a big impact on our team and staff this season," Pinto said. "We had almost 200 inquiries for the position, and looked at some very good candidates along the way. Eric kept jumping out as the leading candidate- the people I spoke with in the Pirates organization gave me very high marks on his work ethic, knowledge, and care for the players he works with. The extensive interview process we went through confirmed he was the perfect guy for us. We are excited to have him and his family joining our Miners Family, and to work together toward a Frontier League Championship this season."