Baseball: Kansas City natives lead Brewers to first title

Jacob Misiorowski and Aaron Ashby brought the Milwaukee Brewers their first World Series championship.

The two pitchers hail from the Kansas City area. Misiorowski attended Grain Valley High School, while Ashby played at Park Hill High School. Both players also spent time at Crowder Community College in Neosho, Missouri.

Misiorowski, 24, started Game 5. He pitched five and two-thirds scoreless innings and allowed two hits in the victory that sealed the title. Ashby, a reliever, broke the record for the most scoreless innings by a reliever in a single postseason, surpassing the previous mark set by Andrew Miller.

Their high school coaches focus on the men's character rather than just their stats. Brian Driskell, the former Grain Valley baseball head coach, described Misiorowski as an empathetic teammate who celebrated for others. "He was the first guy to celebrate everything, with anybody who wasn't him," Driskell said.

Driskell recalled a text message from Misiorowski expressing a desire to make his community proud. "I screen shotted it and sent it to him and said, 'You have, kiddo, you have,'" Driskell said. Drew Smith, the principal at Grain Valley, noted that Misiorowski embodies the school's ethos, known as the Valley Way.

Jon Davis, who coached Ashby at Park Hill, remembered the pitcher as a fun and emotional player. "I never doubted he would be a kid that would want to do the hard part of being good," Davis said. Davis watched Ashby break the major league postseason record for scoreless innings by a reliever to open the series.

The victory ends a 44-year wait for a World Series title in Milwaukee. Smith said the win puts high school baseball in Missouri on the national map. Driskell praised the Brewers' small-ball style of play. "The way that they play is the way the game is meant to be played," he said.