On the night of June 28, 2025, the Westfield Starfires hosted the FCBL’s best team, the Worcester Bravehearts, at Bullens Field. The Starfires went on to lose the game 7-5, but three of those runs were produced by a three-run home run.
This round tripper was not off the bat of team average leader Evan Menzel, or team home run leader Jonathan Chatfield, but from perhaps one of the most unlikely of sources: center fielder Griffin Mills.
Mills, the rising junior for Northwestern, had entered the game 1-for-25 on the season, but then became the first right-handed batter to go yard for the Starfires, and the first to hit a three-run home run.
The very next day, he did it again: another three-run bomb against the Bravehearts, this one in Worcester. His three base hits and five RBIs on the day helped the Starfires become the first road team to win two games at Fitton Field on the season with an 8-5 victory.
Despite only playing in three of the six games for Westfield that week, with only nine at-bats, Mills became the first Starfire to win FCBL Player of the Week during week five.
Mills proved that he was only good against the Bravehearts, as two days later, he went yard for the third time in four games against the Nashua Silver Knights, taking over the team home run after he had a goose egg in that category four days earlier.
Mills hails from Morristown, New Jersey, a small city of about 20,000 in the north-central part of the state. He attended high school at Delbarton, an all-boys collegiate preparatory school. Delbarton was the same school where Anthony Volpe was drafted out of, becoming a first-round pick in 2019. Jack Leiter, a starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers and the number two overall pick in the 2021 draft, also attended Delbarton before playing collegiately at Vanderbilt.
During the summer, Mills played for Artillery Baseball, a highly prestigious travel ball team in New Jersey that went all over the East Coast to play games.
Mills originally was committed to the play for the Stanford Cardinal, but they waived his scholarship after the outfielder needed Tommy John Surgery during his junior season. After that hiatus, Mills committed to play for the Northwestern Wildcats during that junior season.
“I wanted to best manage athletics and academics,” he said when talking about why he committed to Northwestern. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
After Mills missed his 11th-grade year, he returned in his senior year by batting .467 on the season in 75 at-bats.
This earned him second-team all-conference honors as Delbarton went on to win their fourth straight County Championship that season.
Mills came in his freshman season in the Big Ten ranked as the number 30 overall prospect in the state of New Jersey and the number four shortstop.
The 6’1”, 200-pound east coaster is majoring in the business side of things, studying Learning and Organizational Change, to go along with a minor in Business Institutions at one of the most prestigious academic schools in the Midwest.
Mills played in 31 games in his freshman season that spring, starting 15 of those. His first collegiate hit was in his debut in a win over Tulane on February 16 of 2024. He then hit his first career home run in a conference game against Maryland on April 14, then in his first multi-hit game, grabbed three base knocked towards the end of the season in a game against Purdue on April 27.
“The scheduling aspect of it is quite a leap from high school ball,” he said when discussing the transition from high school to college. “You play nine-inning games and have a full-blown team practice 6 times a week. Pitchers are way more polished and keep you off balance, while hitters just don’t make mistakes.”
The Big Ten product then took his talents over to the NECBL, playing for the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks in the summer of 2024. Mills played in 17 games for the Sharks, hitting .191, but ending his season with a three-hit day in his final game of the season on August 3.
In his sophomore season at Northwestern, Mills played in 21 games, recording two starts. Mills took full advantage of his limited action, slashing .316 with a 1.014 OPS in mainly a pinch-hit role. Mills helped the Wildcats finish 25-27 on the season, which was the most program wins since 2017.
Mills then stayed in New England for the summer of 2025, this time playing for the Westfield Starfires in the Futures League of New England.
“Coach Greenspan coordinates where you end up playing summer ball,” Mills said. “He introduced me to Westfield, and I’m extremely grateful for that.”
He made his Starfires debut on June 12, registering a hit in that game. Over the next few weeks, Mills was always good for an occasional diving catch out in center field, but his bat was a hindrance to putting him in the lineup consistently. After the single in the game on June 12, Mills was zero for his next 24, and his batting average sat at .040.
“I haven’t struggled like that at all in my career,” Mills said about his slump. “I understood that I needed to walk into every at-bat with confidence. I started my approach earlier, and Coach Molinari helped me time up the pitcher in the batter circle.”
After his breakout game against the Braveheart, Mills has a base hit in five of his past six games, going 9-for-23 in that span. He is now hitting .208, has a team-leading three home runs, and is tied for second with 11 runs driven in, carving out an everyday role as a starting outfielder for the Starfires.
He showed up day in and day out with the same mindset and never wavered,” said Starfires Associate Manager Nate Cormier. “He has gone through some struggles, more than most will experience, but the strength and fortitude to come out on top has been a gift to watch.”
More than anything, Mills is happy to be a member of the Westfield Starfires. He says that his best moment as a member of the team is the Firework night back on June 13 when the Starfires also set a Bullens Field attendance record.
“Seeing that many people show up for the town and seeing all the fireworks and the kids running around asking for autographs was just a joy to me.”
“The guys and staff on the team know the area and are passionate about developing and forming relationships,” Mills said. “The coaches care about you and trust you.”
Mills wants to continue playing baseball for as long as possible after his time at Northwestern.
“I would like for baseball to be a part of my life for as long as possible and eventually try and make it to the major leagues,” he said. “I will always be extremely grateful for my time in the sport.”
It may have taken him a while, but with his recent performance, Mills has shown himself to be one of the best players in the FCBL. He is a Swiss army knife with his ability to hit for power, steal bases, and play anywhere in the outfield. With his level of commitment and desire to form relationships, he is poised for success both on the off the diamond in his future.
