Home Baseball Miners Sign Jared Welch and Sako Chapjian

Miners Sign Jared Welch and Sako Chapjian

by Press Release

MARION, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners announce that they have inked two more position players for 2015, signing catcher Jared Welch and outfielder Sako Chapjian.

Welch joins the Miners after completing his college career at Emory University, where he was a teammate of former Miner Andrew Cohn and current Miners signee Paul Schwendel. During his senior season in 2014, he hit .314 with 15 doubles and five triples, driving in 46 runs while also compiling a .412 on-base percentage. Defensively, Welch shone brightly behind the plate, throwing out 20 of 38 attempted base-stealers and committing only three errors in 348 chances for a stellar .991 fielding percentage.

“Jared comes to us with high recommendations,” Miners manager Mike Pinto said. “Scouting reports tell us he’s an excellent defensive catcher with a strong arm who has had great success in shutting down the opponents’ running game. Former Miner Andrew Cohn, who knows what kind of players have good success here, said that he thinks Jared would be a good fit here in Southern Illinois.”

Chapjian joins the Miners following a college career at Glendale Community College in southern California as well as Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. A former 45th-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Chapjian played his junior college baseball at Glendale where he was a standout, leading the state of California in home runs while leading his team to the Southern California title.

At Lewis and Clark, a school well-known for the major leaguers they have produced through the years, he also hit .323 with a .523 slugging percentage  before an injury shortened his season.

“We had the chance to work out Sako last summer and we were impressed with his approach at the plate as well as his power,” Pinto said. “At the time, we did not have an opening, but he was definitely a player we wanted to see this spring. He can also play multiple positions for us.”
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