Bio

Josh McMillen took an unusual path to becoming a hero for the Cowley College baseball team. Unable to play high school baseball and not sure if he would even make the Tiger baseball team, McMillen wound up being a key member of back-to-back JUCO World Series winning teams. His stellar play will be rewarded with his upcoming induction into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 31.

Growing up in Clearwater, Kansas, McMillen was not able to play high school baseball since the school did not have a team. So, he spent his summers playing for the Wichita Cardinals, a team coached by Dick Robertson, who’s son, Nate, a current pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, also was a member of the team.

McMillen went to Kansas State University on a whim. He walked on as a member of the baseball team and spent his freshman season redshirting. After playing well in the Fall, McMillen was shocked to hear the coaches tell him they thought he would be better served transferring to a community college. The Kansas State coaching staff put him in touch with the coaches at Cowley, and McMillen decided to transfer.

“I knew absolutely nothing about Cowley,” McMillen said. The funny thing is, McMillen almost didn’t make the team. After a rough start with the program, he needed to do something to make the coaches have faith in him. The turning point came in an intrasquad scrimmage where McMillen hit four doubles off three of the Tigers’ best pitchers.

“I had to earn the coaches and players respect,” McMillen said. “The workouts were completely different, they were a lot more rigorous than they were at Kansas State. Those workouts made me a much better ball player.”

McMillen also credits the sophomore leadership of players like Travis Hafner, Dale Pearson, and Justin Helterbrand in helping the 1997 team make it to the JUCO World Series.

“They were hungry for it and had the focus to make it there,” McMillen said. He played leftfield and centerfield at Cowley and displayed his versatility by batting cleanup his freshman year and then batting leadoff as a sophomore.

“From where he started to where he finished is very impressive,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said. “He was a great leader and had great attributes on and off the field.”

His solid play earned him All-Conference and All-Region baseball honors as he helped Cowley to a 34-0 conference mark in 1998. He capped his sophomore season by leading the Tigers to their second straight World Series title and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1998 JUCO World Series.

“He helped pilot that ship,” Burroughs said. “One of the best compliments I can give him is that he was a throwback, hard nosed player. I would like to have 25 guys just like him, that would make my job easy.”

McMillen looks back fondly at his time at Cowley and the players he played with. “It was an awesome time, as far as baseball goes it was the two best years of my life,” McMillen said. “We hung out all the time and did everything together. I developed a bond with everyone on the team that is tough to break.”

After Cowley, McMillen went on to play two years of baseball at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Fellow Tiger, Brad Smith, also played baseball at UNC-Charlotte. McMillen earned a bachelors degree in Math from UNC-Charlotte and later earned a masters degree in School Administration from Appalachian State.

He and his wife, Sara, who he met while going to school at UNC-Charlotte, have three children, Nolan 7, Mia 4, and Tripp 2. McMillen has taught Math for the past eight years and is currently employed as an eighth grade Math teacher at Central Middle School in Dobson, North Carolina.

He was shocked when Cowley College athletic director, Tom Saia, called to inform him that he would be inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame.

“When coach (Tom) Saia called I couldn’t believe it, I thought he had the wrong name and number,” McMillen said. “I never considered myself a standout and was never looking for accolades. I think of all the people that came before me in the Tiger Hall of Fame, like (Travis) Hafner, (Junior) Spivey, and Suzanne Kerr (Unruh). And to go in with coach (Ed) Hargrove is really special and an honor.”

McMillen is looking forward to seeing former teammates and his “foster mother” through the Adopt-A-Player program, Peg Williams.

“I plan on spending a couple of days with my family and my Tiger family,” McMillen said.

Coach Burroughs is happy to see another of his former Tiger players headed into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame. “It’s a very well deserved honor,” Burroughs said. “It’s special for him and we are excited to see him again.”

McMillen believes he was just one small part of the 1997 and 1998 Tiger baseball team’s run to back-to-back World Series title.

“Camaraderie was the biggest reason for our success,” McMillen said. “We had one goal in mind and that was making it to Grand Junction.”