Local Vets Call It A Career

The Millers were led this season by two players that were very familiar with playing in the Friendly City. Locals Brennan Reidy and Ben Douglas finished off their WMBL careers after graduating from school in the spring. Both players were key parts of this year's team and will no doubt be missed going forward. Douglas played five seasons with the Miller Express and said it was a great experience getting to play in his hometown. “It's been a blast, every summer has been so fun,” said Douglas. “There's great people around the ball park, great fans, a lot of good people on the board and hanging around the park and some great coaches.” Douglas put together another solid season at the plate in his final year as he hit .340 in 42 games with four home runs and 30 RBI. He also added seven doubles and struck out just nine times in 147 at-bats. “It's been a long journey, it was seven years ago that I first dressed with the Millers,” said Douglas. “I've learned a lot since I first started with the team and it's just been a tremendous growing experience for me throughout the years.” Reidy showed immense progress from last year to this season, which was his fourth with the Miller Express. He put together a strong season at the plate as a regular and really made his mark in the field at second base. “I learned a lot as a player since coming in during my freshman year. I learned a lot from guys like Jon Cotter, Dustin Caplette and Marshall Dean, they definitely helped me grow as a player,” said Reidy. “Guys like Coach (Cory Olafson) and Coach Hunt, they didn't just grow me as a player, but as a person. Maturing a lot and I'm definitely going to take a lot of what I learned over these four years into my future.” After being a bench player during his first three seasons, Reidy played in 45 of the Millers' 48 games this season, hitting .243 and getting better at the plate as the season progressed. He finished with four doubles and 11 RBI. Reidy really stood out in the field however where he played lights out defence at second base, making just ten errors over the season. “He saved a lot of games defensively,” said Hunt. “I told him from the very beginning this year, obviously anything we get offensively is going to be icing on the cake, but the job he needs to do keep runs off the board and he did that from game one all the way to the end.” Reidy was awarded with the team's gold glove award for his efforts.