theathleticuk
This story is part of Peak, The Athletics desk covering the mental side of sports.
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Adamo Stornello was a teammate of Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski at Crowder College.
Misiorowski has a 1.45 ERA for the Brewers and has thrown a pitch 105 mph.
Stornello is an assistant coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Advertisement Jacob Misiorowski always seemed so mellow before games.
In junior college, we would play a seven-inning game and then right afterward play a full nine-inning game.
Miz always started the second game, so we would both sit and watch the first game.
He would be absolutely chilling, talking to the guys.
Toward the end of the game, I would head down to the bullpen to start getting my body loose.
I would throw some plyo balls, warm up, get myself ready mentally.
Its funny because it always seemed like I warmed up way more than he did.
Miz was almost zen-like.
He would just look at me and say: You ready to go? He had unwavering confidence.
It was almost as if he were thinking: Its going to go right for me, obviously, because Im more talented than everyone else.
But Im also better prepared.
It wasnt always that way with him.
In junior college baseball, theres a big culture around the weight room.
Maybe its the dinginess of the situation.
At least thats how we were at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri.
We embraced the hardness of our workouts.
We were going to push ourselves and yell at each other and get after one another and hold each other accountable, including Miz.
He was going to be drafted out of high school, but he battled injuries, and COVID-19 ruined his senior season.
So he came to Crowder instead and then tore his meniscus in his first start.
It wasnt going the way it was supposed to go, and Im sure some thoughts were running through his head: Damn, I was supposed to be a major-league draft pick.
There was a famous offseason workout at Crowder called nine-and-downs.
It took place on Thursdays at 6 a.m.
at the basketball courts.
We had to run nine down-and-backs in under two minutes.
Coach Travis Lallemand told us from day one: It is a sprint.
If you dont sprint, youre not going to make it.
Advertisement He divided the team into two groups: position players and pitchers.
If everyone in your group made it in under two minutes, then you move on to eight down-and-backs, which you have to complete in under 1:50.
Then you move on to seven down-and-backs in under 1:35.
And so on down the list.
If your group hit all the times, you could be out of there in 25 minutes.
If not, it could turn into a long, hard morning.
I remember vividly times when Miz would kind of coast.
Im not the tallest individual, and I have short legs, but I was still making my times.
The pitchers are a lankier, taller group, but they werent making their times, Miz included.
Coach Lallemand yelled to me: How tall are you? I might have given myself a little boost when I yelled back: Coach, Im 5-8.
And then he said to the team: Well, how the f is he making it with his little legs and you pitchers arent? At that time, Miz was coasting a little bit.
He was tall enough that he should have been able to take four strides and make it.
There were some hard conversations in front of the whole team about that.
Miz had so much potential he was throwing close to 100 mph even then and coach Lallemand wasnt going to let him not use it.
He said something to the effect of: You have the most potential out of anyone thats ever come through this program.
Were totally aware that your story hasnt gone the way you thought it was going to go.
But guess what? Youre here now, and what you do in these mornings and with your teammates is going to dictate the rest of your career.
Thats what changed for him: the effort in those moments.
Running suicides at 6 a.m.
doesnt make you a better baseball player, but it builds a certain resilience and toughness in you.
Thats how you earned your keep around there: Were you going to be devoted to giving your all to stuff that kind of didnt matter? If you did that for your teammates in those moments, then they had confidence in you that youd do it when it mattered.
Advertisement By the last week of the offseason, Miz didnt miss any more times.
He started to learn how to click that killer instinct on, and it no longer took someone else getting into him to bring that side of him out.
Miz worked really hard in those moments and earned the respect of the whole team.
And when you start to blossom out of all of that work, thats when the confidence can take over.
He had done the hard things.
He was pushed to the limit, and he knew he was more prepared than anyone else.
He had earned the right to be good now.
Thats why I think he seemed so calm and zen before starts.
Was the talent always good enough for him to get drafted and play minor-league baseball? Of course.
We all knew that.
But I think whats taken him to the next level is all the things Im talking about.
I coach Division I baseball now, and we talk about that all the time.
Its the talent that gets you here, but its ultimately the effort that decides whether youre going to keep playing at a high level.
Thats something he leaned into, and it all clicked for him.
It led to domination.
As told to Jayson Jenks.