Wheeling, W. Va. - The mantra of Division I or bust is set in a lot of student-athletes' minds when they are coming out of high school with aspirations of becoming professional athletes. While most professional athletes come from Division I Athletics, there are several Division II, Division III, and NAIA student-athletes that make their way to the professional ranks. Wheeling, West Virginia Native, and Wheeling University Baseball Alumnus, Noah Mull is just one example of how a Division II pitcher can break the mold and find his way into professional sports.
"Division II and Division III guys kind of walk around with a chip on their shoulder because everyone is always saying you got to go DI," said Mull. "I played against a ton of fantastic talent in Division II that all got drafted from the WVIAC and the Mountain East. I would say to anyone considering trying to play at the next level Division I, Division II, Division III, you really can't go wrong. Talent is going to be recognized."
Mull's career in baseball began as it does for many youngsters by trying out every sport that there is. Mull remembers trying basketball, soccer, baseball, and hockey as a kid and just enjoying playing the sport. He continued with this group of sports throughout his Little League days, but something drew him towards the diamond. As he got into middle school, it was time to narrow down his sport list and it was a trip to Cooperstown, New York that drew him towards baseball.
"I really started getting heavily into baseball in seventh or eighth grade," said Mull. "We went up to Cooperstown to play in a Little League World Series and it was sweet. In High School, I started to get a little bit better, and I started focusing on pitching my senior year and seemed to do pretty well with that. I was always around sports and baseball is an easy one to make a lot of friends and have a lot of comradery with your teammates."
Mull played his High School baseball at Wheeling Central Catholic under Head Coach Terry Edwards from 2001 – 2005. During that time, he was a two-way player, and, during his senior season, he began to really focus on pitching. Initially, Mull wanted to travel away from his hometown to play baseball at a Division I school. After graduating, Mull went down to Virginia Tech, where he planned on being a walk-on on the baseball team. Unfortunately for Mull, he would end up being cut after the fall season and spent the spring semester playing on the club Baseball team.
It wasn't the experience that Mull had envisioned and he began to look back towards his hometown for more opportunities. A few of his teammates had come to Wheeling the year prior to begin the Baseball program and, after talking with his friends, he found a connection that would bring him back to where his baseball career began.
"While playing on the club team I was talking to my buddies back in Wheeling and they said we need you, we can really use you, and its coach (Terry Edwards)," said Mull. "At the time I was undecided what I wanted to do Major wise, I was landscape architecture and business, and I knew they had a really good business program here. It made it pretty simple you go from a classroom of 700 kids to a classroom of 25 and I said, 'you know I'll do a little better here than I would at a big school.'"
Mull stepped onto campus in the fall of 2006 and right away became a member of the Cardinals young pitching rotation. Being that they were a young program, success wasn't immediate, and the team took their share of lumps. Over his first three years with the Cardinals, Mull combined to go 4-14 with a 5.41 ERA. Along with pitching, Mull also played outfield during his first two seasons hitting .300+ in both campaigns. While the results on the field weren't very good, the program continued to grow and get better talent on the field.
In 2009, Mull focused solely on pitching and had a high ERA but was striking guys out at a high rate. By season's end, he was one of the top pitchers in Division II in terms of striking out batters with a K/9 rate of 14.82. He was going toe to toe with San Diego State phenom, and current Washington Nationals pitcher, Stephen Strasburg for the K/9 title across all leagues, but he still wasn't getting the results he wanted. So, that summer, he got an opportunity in the Great Lakes League that would jumpstart his pitching career.
"In 2009 I was a thrower, but I wasn't really a pitcher and I just tried to throw hard," said Mull. "My brother lives in Cincinnati and he had some contacts so that summer I got to play in the Great Lakes League. I met a former Major League pitcher there and I think he turned me into a real pitcher. Getting that tutelage on how to be a real pitcher really started the trend that summer and I took that mentality and mechanics and used it in 2010."
When he came back, the benefits of that summer work began to show as he emerged as the Cardinals' ace. He would go 7-1 that season with a career-best 2.09 ERA in nine games, eight starts while striking out a career-high 81 batters and allowing 39 hits in 56 innings. Despite the results on the field, many scouts elected to go to Division I on the Saturday's when Mull pitched. A change in the Cardinals rotation would get Mull noticed and eventually propelled him into the MLB Draft talk.
"In 2010 when we were down in Florida there was a scout there and that kind of trickled into other scouts seeing me," said Mull. "I would always pitch on Saturdays, but what we came to find out was that was when Division I's best pitchers were throwing. So, what coach Edwards did was throw me on Sundays that way they aren't focusing on Division I and could come watch me pitch. I think moving to that second day really helped out and one game there was one scout and the next game there were five or six scouts."
By the end of the 2010 season, Mull was named the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Regional Pitcher of the Year and was on the radar of several Major League teams. However, when the MLB Draft rolled around in July, Mull wasn't sure whether or not he was going to get drafted. As the draft moved into its third day, all Mull could do was sit and wait to see if his name would be called and his baseball dreams would continue.
"Several teams told me if I was still on the board at this time, we are going to take you," said Mull. "I had a good feeling but then you get to the 30th round, nothing, the 35th round, nothing, and I said I can't do this anymore. I left the house, stopped listening, and went for a drive and then I came back and started playing video games and my dad came in and said you're a Padre. It all happened really quickly, you hear your name called, then you get a phone call from the scout that drafted you, and then they say here is your reporting date, 1,000 dollars, and a plane ticket."
When he was drafted, Mull was just the second player in Wheeling Baseball history to be drafted, the first was Catcher John Gage who went to the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth round of the 1968 MLB draft. Mull immediately made his way to the Padres Arizona Rookie Ball team and in his first four games he pitched to a 3.86 ERA. As the season winded down, he ended up getting promoted to help the lower levels of the Padres system.
He made stops with the Class High-A Lake Elsinore Storm and the Low-A Fort Wayne Tin Caps as he came in to give relievers a break. He would pick up his first professional win in High A in a game that he says he will not soon forget.
"After Rookie ball, I was promoted to be a roving bullpen relief guy for the Padres Minor League teams," said Mull. "I went to High A Lake Elsinore first and I was there for three or four weeks helping out their bullpen. I got my first win up there and I'll never forget it because I got to face back then a guy who I didn't really know named Mike Trout, and he nearly took my head off with an inside fastball. So, that was really cool looking back and reflecting on that."
In 2011, Mull would start the year in Low A Fort Wayne and put together his best season to that point coming on in relief. He made 28 appearances, two starts, for the Tin Caps and went 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA over 45.1 innings of work. However, he suffered a groin injury towards the end of the season which would eventually spell the end of Mull's professional career. He came back in 2012 and was on the Padre's Double A spring training roster, but the injury recurred and forced Mull to hang up the cleats.
With his playing days over, Mull made his way back to Wheeling and got the opportunity to work at his Alma Mater for five years. He began his tenure as a telephone caller and worked his way up through several positions, including the Director of Advancement by the end of his tenure. He then heard from his sister-in-law about an opening as a State Farm agent and he took the opportunity and ran with it. He now owns his own State Farm Insurance Agency in Wheeling and loves the opportunity to be able to give back to his hometown every day.
"Every State Farm agent has their own book of business and I have grown up with all of our customers' sons and daughters and I know their mom and dads," said Mull." It is just cool to be a trusted person to where when those storms rolled in a couple of weeks ago, I am the person they call to help. That I think is the most rewarding part that you can protect the people you grow up with."
To this day, Mull still has a strong connection with Wheeling and the Wheeling University Baseball program. Being that he went through the program in its early stages, he is able to help the current players as they grow, develop, and continue to make the program a powerhouse in the Mountain East Conference.
"I have gotten to meet several of the (Wheeling) guys, I got to help several of the pitchers if they are in a funk coach Greg Bamberger will call me and say hey can you take a look at this guy," said Mull. "Being at the highest level in a Major League organization, you pick up these little things from the pitching coaches there that you didn't have at Wheeling. So, I like to bring those back with me as little tips."
For students looking into Wheeling, Mull says to come check it out because it is an academic and athletic experience that you will never forget.
"I would say definitely take a tour of campus and meet with professors who are going to be there with you, and I think you will be blown away by the quality of professors we have here," said Mull. "It is a great campus where you are going to be nurtured and you will grow as a person."
