Almost a year after it seemed likely his baseball playing days were over, Logan County’s Braxton Meguiar is returning to the baseball field as a player, not as a coach.
After becoming one of the best hitters in Cougar history, he played in one of the premier junior college leagues in the country for a year and then played four years of college baseball, reaching the NAIA World Series all four years, setting a national record for runs scored, and becoming a two-time All-American.
He wasn’t drafted by a major league team last summer and has spent the last year teaching youngsters how better to play the game he loves so much.
Then Tuesday, he issued this big announcement:
“I have recently signed to play some Independent Baseball in Michigan. It is in a league called the USPBL for the Utica Unicorns!
“The weekend of April 11 and 12th will be my last days giving lessons. I cannot express enough how much I enjoyed working with each and every kid. I will truly miss it! But, the good news is whenever I get back from playing baseball I will resume my lessons!
“To anyone who came to see me at D-BAT in Bowling Green, thank you for trusting me to train your child! I hope they enjoyed it!
“To anyone who came to see me at For His Glory Fitness in Russellville, thank you! I can’t express enough how much I enjoyed working with our local community. The support and outreach has been incredible. I hope your child got as much out of the lessons as I did.
“With that being said….Come and see me at either location before I finish up! I would love to see anyone and everyone one last time before I go! I can’t thank you all enough! “
Braxton will be paid to play for the Unicorns. He and one of his former Georgia Gwinnett teammates, who will also be on the team, will stay in the home of a Utica family which supports the team, as is often the case for players starting out in professional baseball.
The USPBL (United States Professional Baseball League) powered by Mortgage Matchup was founded by Rochester-based General Sports and Entertainment, and is the culmination of a 10-year effort by General Sports to bring professional baseball to the Detroit area.
General Sports is led by President & CEO Andy Appleby, a former Senior Vice President of the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment. General Sports previously owned and operated the Fort Wayne Wizards, a Minor League Baseball team in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the Derby County Football Club, an English football (soccer) club in the English Premier and Championship Football Leagues. The USPBL will give General Sports the opportunity to employ every best practice that its experienced team has learned over the past 30 years at the highest level of sports management and marketing.
The USPBL powered by Mortgage Matchup launched May 2016 with an initial slate of three teams playing a full 75-game schedule at Jimmy John’s Field in historic downtown Utica. The USPBL is the first league in history to feature best practices such as having all of its games played on prime dates, Thursday to Sunday from mid-May through early September – the very finest months of weather in Michigan.
The USPBL was designed as an innovative developmental finishing school for players seeking to make it to the Majors. The USPBL teams are comprised of top level college baseball players from around the country. The finishing school consists of state-of-the-art coaching, the very best in musculoskeletal training and strength and conditioning programs, the latest advances in sabermetrics and video analysis, as well as a focus on personal development off the field.
The quality of the players and the baseball is very high, and USPBL players are scouted regularly by major league teams. In eight seasons, 51 USPBL players have been signed by Major League organizations. In 2023, former Birmingham Bloomfield Beaver Randy Wynne with the Cincinnati Reds and Joey Wiemer with the Milwaukee Brewers. That brings the total number of former USPBL players who have made it to the majors to five!
See what Major League Organizations signed these players from the USPBL by visiting this page!
The USPBL powered by Mortgage Matchup added a fourth team the Westside Woolly Mammoths in 2017, joining the Unicorns, Beavers and Diamond Hoppers.
As the USPBL powered by Mortgage Matchup develops additional ballparks in the years to come, every ballpark will always feature two home teams, which will give the league the benefit of having home games every weekend and on only the best days of the week (Thursday to Sunday) and in the very best months for weather in Michigan.
Braxton will lead one more baseball clinic at D-Bat Bowling Green before leavin for Michigan. It will be a Power-hitting Clinic next Thursday. See the accompanying graphic for details.