Two former Waterloo High School pitching standouts are teammates once again, playing summer ball up north.

Cole Milam, a 6-foot-4 righthander who pitches at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and Erik Kaiser, a 6-foot-5 righty who pitches at Vanderbilt University, are members of the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League.

The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer circuit featuring 22 teams in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, North Dakota and also Canada.

More than 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball – including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and World Series champions Ben Zobrist, Brandon Crawford and Chris Sale as well as MLB All-Stars Jordan Zimmermann and Curtis Granderson.

Milam graduated from WHS in 2016; Kaiser graduated in 2017.

Milam put together two straight quality starts recently for the Huskies, posting wins July 7 over Eau Claire and July 14 over La Crosse. He went six innings in each start, allowing just one unearned run total.

For the summer, Milam is 3-1 with a 4.32 ERA in 10 games pitched, four of them being starts. He has 22 strikeouts in 25 innings.

Kaiser has pitched in 19 games (four starts) for Duluth, amassing 49 innings. He is 2-0 with 48 strikeouts and a 4.59 ERA.

Both Milam and Kaiser are participating this week in the Northwest League’s Major League Dreams Showcase in Madison, Wisc. 

The showcase brings together 100 of the league’s top prospects to form four teams for a day of scouting workouts and game action. 

Played in front of major league scouts, the showcase provides a platform for players looking to one day make it into the professional ranks.  

Touchette on the mend

Another local baseball standout, Columbia’s Cameron Touchette, initially was going to play for the Keene Swamp Bats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League this summer, but opted for surgery to repair a torn labrum.

Touchette, who hit .345 with 19 stolen bases at Kent State this past spring, played through the injury in the college season.