Guided by father’s words, Mauricio Millan became the leader WSU baseball needed
Before Mauricio Millan could ever dream of delivering a walk-off victory on senior day or wearing the captain’s “C” for the Wichita State baseball team, he sat alone in a car, staring out at a little league field in El Paso, Texas that he wasn’t allowed to return to.
He was 12 years old, still boiling with frustration after slamming his helmet to the ground following a strikeout. His father, Juan, didn’t yell. He simply pulled his son from the dugout, walked him to the parking lot and gave him a message that still resonates with him to this day.
“If you ever act like that again, you’ll never play baseball again,” his father said.
The message stuck. And so did the lesson — that leadership isn’t about talent or emotion. It’s about character, accountability and how you carry yourself.
Millan didn’t grow into a leader during his 3-year career with the Shockers, which wrapped up with this past season. He became the kind of steady, respected presence his father always hoped. A three-year starter at catcher, the team captain and the heartbeat of the locker room, Millan leaves WSU with a reputation as the ultimate leader.
“I’ve grown so much as a player at Wichita State, but I’ve grown even more as a leader and as a human being,” Millan said. “And all of that comes from my dad. He instilled that in us at a very young age: be a leader, not a follower. Trust your gut and do what you think is right.”
The leader behind the mask
Not much went according to plan this past season for Millan or the Shockers.
A preseason injury forced him to miss the first month of the season, as WSU started slow and never recovered in a 20-36 season that produced the lowest winning percentage (35.7%) in the program’s modern history.
After a strong 2024 season when Millan hit .301 with 31 RBIs, 36 runs and a program-record 24 hit by pitches, he saw his numbers dip (.269 with 21 RBIs and 26 runs) this past season. Through it all, Millan endured the challenging year with strong leadership and accountability.
“This season was very challenging to me because it was the first time in my baseball career that I’ve failed this much as a team,” Millan said. “When stuff doesn’t go your way, you’ve got to dig deeper and regardless of the outcome, still do things the right way. I had to learn to understand that it’s about growth and while it may suck right now, it’s only going to help me later down the road become a better person.”
Millan wasn’t afraid to be the veteran to speak up and hold teammates accountable during a trying season. He made sure players showed up on time for meetings and weight-lifting sessions and effort remained high — even when the win-loss record didn’t meet expectations.
“Mo is such a good leader because he’s not always going to be buddy-buddy with you,” senior teammate Jordan Rogers said. “When it’s time to lock in, he’s definitely one of the best leaders I’ve been around. He may seem like a hard-o sometimes, but that’s part of being a good team leader and that’s why everyone respects him.”
Catching on to his calling
The roots of Millan’s leadership trace back to his family’s story.
His father left Colombia to raise a family in the United States, bringing with him a relentless work ethic and belief that character comes first, especially in sports.
Millan and his three brothers and sister were raised to believe that winning and losing in athletics doesn’t define you — how you carry yourself does. True winners, they were taught, show grace and character no matter the outcome.
“Baseball is what you do, but it’s not your identity,” Millan remembers his father saying. “Your identity should come from Christ. He wanted me to give everything I had in baseball, but if it doesn’t work out, that’s alright because baseball isn’t everything.”
That mentality is what set Millan apart from his peers at an early age.
His youth coach, Matt Munden, a longtime family friend, noticed how kids flocked to Millan. He has a theory why.
“Mauricio has always been a kid who has been confident and when you’re confident, other kids can feel that and they gravitate towards that,” Munden said. “He’s not arrogant, but he carries himself very confidently on the field and I think that’s why kids have always saw him as someone to follow. You feel like, ‘If I hitch my trailer to this guy, we’re going places.”
His bilingual background only enhanced his ability to lead at a young age.
Growing up speaking both English and Spanish, Millan served as a bridge for his teams in El Paso, helping teammates overcome language barriers and build chemistry.
“When he would be playing on teams with kids who only spoke English or Spanish, he would be that middle person who helped,” said John Millan, his older brother. “He was able to relate to everyone. So when there was a language barrier, he helped build that team camaraderie and get everybody on the same page.”
The captain’s final chapter
Fittingly, Millan’s final moments at Eck Stadium in a Shocker uniform felt like something out of a movie.
With his family in attendance for senior weekend, Millan stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the game on the line. For one final time, he delivered with a walk-off RBI double to lift WSU to a 6-5 win over Memphis.
“It did kind of have that storybook ending in a movie,” Millan said with a smile. “To be the captain and come through for the team like that, I was just really happy.”
For Wichita State head coach Brian Green, Millan’s impact goes beyond walk-offs and statistics.
“The best thing about Mo is his consistency,” Green said. “The consistency of how much he cares, the consistency of effort, the consistency of toughness. He has meant so much to me personally for what he’s done for this program. Mo is a winner in life and he’s going to crush life. We are going to sorely miss him.”
Whenever Millan is ready to trade in his catcher’s gear for a coach’s uniform, Green said there will be a spot waiting for him on his staff.
But for now, Millan’s sights remain set on chasing his dream of professional baseball. Equipped with the lessons of his father and the three years of experience he gained in Wichita, Millan is confident with whatever comes next.
“To be able to wear the Wichita State uniform, that is something no one can ever take away from me,” Millan said. “It’s been so cool to be a part of a program with so much history. Look at Gene Stephenson and just what Shocker baseball has been, a dynasty, in college baseball. For Wichita State to give me a chance, it’s something I’ll cherish for a really long time.”
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