Two university athletes have been lucky enough to continue their baseball careers at the next level; the minor leagues.

Former fielder Austin Montgomery and pitcher Bryant George both play for the Southern Illinois Miners, last year’s Frontier League champions.

While at SIU, Montgomery, who will graduate this summer, led the Salukis in most batting statistics this past season. George, a 2010 SIU alumnus, still holds the the all-time appearances and saves records for Saluki baseball.

Montgomery, a recent addition to the Miners, signed just two weeks ago after talking to Miners’ manager Mike Pinto.

“I tried out the next morning and played that night,” Montgomery said. “The coaches must have liked what they saw.”

Montgomery said he has started a few games since joining the Miners, but isn’t a constant starter in the line-up yet.

Pinto, who has been the league’s winningest manager since 2007,  said he has a board in his office of college prospects in the area. Montgomery was on this board. He said some players can be removed from the list by how little they produce their senior year or if they get drafted.

This was initially the case for George after he was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 13th round of the 2010 baseball amateur draft. He said he played for two seasons but injured his elbow and was released.

George said he went from throwing 100 mph to 85 mph, which is a big drop for a pitcher in the major leagues. He was picked up by the Miners in March 2013.

George’s tough road with injuries has continued in his professional career.

He has been on the disabled list for more than three weeks and medical officials still don’t have a diagnosis for his elbow.

Despite injuries and line-up inconsistencies,  Montgomery said it’s good to be teammates with George again.

“He’s a little crazy, but all baseball players are a little crazy,” Montgomery said.

Professional baseball is relatively new to southern Illinois as the Miners had their inaugural season in 2007.

Montgomery, a Marion native, and George, a Du Quoin native, both said they attended games in Marion when they were younger and looked up to the players.

George said as a father, he knows he has to be the same kind of role model he used to see on the field.

“To these kids, we are on the same level as the St. Louis Cardinals,” George said.