{"id":128725,"date":"2025-09-08T22:26:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T22:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/128725\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T22:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T22:26:09","slug":"major-league-baseball-signs-wisconsin-high-school-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/128725\/","title":{"rendered":"Major League Baseball signs Wisconsin high school graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a sweep of the foot across a dusty mound and familiar stitching in hand, Peter Kussow lines his eyes with home plate \u2014 ready to pitch.<\/p>\n

At age 18, the Waukesha County native is now entering the professional world of baseball.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In July, the right-handed pitcher was selected in the fourth round of the 2025 MLB Draft, just shy of starting his college career at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.<\/p>\n

Stay connected to Wisconsin news \u2014 your way<\/p>\n

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The New York Mets called his name.<\/p>\n

On WPR\u2019s \u201cMorning Edition<\/a>,\u201d the 2025 graduate of Arrowhead High School in Hartland called being the 133rd overall pick \u201csurreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A18-year-old Peter Kussow of Hartland, Wis. signs a professional contract with the New York Mets. Photo courtesy New York Mets<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard going through the journey and all the traveling that it takes and skipping college,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Known for throwing a 97 mile per hour fastball and a deceptive slider as an Arrowhead student, Kussow is the only Wisconsin high school player to be recruited to the majors this year.<\/p>\n

Despite committing to University of Louisville as a high school sophomore, he said he\u2019s extremely happy with his decision to go pro.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether (I) went to Louisville or got drafted, it\u2019s a grind every day with the amount of baseball that you\u2019re playing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kussow added that as his professional career begins, he remains committed to receiving a higher education degree. He plans to take online classes throughout his baseball career so he can achieve his goal once he steps away from the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To make it to the professional stage, Kussow credits his parents and the coaching staff with GRB Academy in Windsor. There he worked with former Milwaukee Brewers player, Eric Semmelhack.<\/p>\n

Kussow\u2019s high school career leads his way to the majors\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the number one right-handed pitcher in Wisconsin<\/a>, Kussow made his mark on the 2024-2025 baseball season.<\/p>\n

\"AAs a senior Arrowhead student, Peter Kussow pitches against Waukesha South High School. Photo courtesy Arrowhead High School<\/p>\n

He averaged a 90 mile per hour fastball playing for three teams this year.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Arrowhead Warhawks, he pitched for Wisconsin\u2019s GRB StiKs Black and Ohio\u2019s Cincinnati Red Scout Team.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

As a Reds player, Kussow participated in the Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association World Championship in Florida, a top scouting attraction for amateur baseball players. He also threw in the 2024 Perfect Game National Showcase in Arizona, another high profile event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kussow said the key to breaking past mental barriers at this stage of play is repetition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you stay to your routine and just practice and practice over, you get in a flow and a state that really helps you stay out of your head,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He knows pressure too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a Arrowhead Warhawk, he threw a no-hitter against Kettle Moraine High School with 16 strikeouts in just 93 pitches. He was also named the Classic 8 Conference Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

Kussow was also a talented freshman quarterback. But chose to step away from football to pursue baseball.<\/p>\n

Now in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Kussow is training with the Mets through the Florida Complex League<\/a>, run by Minor League Baseball. A common step for newly signed MLB players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"APeter Kussow of Arrowhead High School prepares to throw another strike during a game against Kettle Moraine High School. Kussow completed a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts in just 93 pitches. Photo courtesy Arrowhead High School<\/p>\n

Championship games wrap up at the end of this month and Kussow said he will begin team play next spring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all dependent on how you\u2019re doing, where they feel they should put you with the affiliates in New York,\u201d Kussow said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As his dream becomes reality, it seems as if it was fate.<\/p>\n

The Mets president of baseball operations is none other than David Stearns, who served as the 2015-2022 general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. Stearns is known for acquiring current players; Christian Yelich, Freddy Peralta, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas and Omar Narv\u00e1ez. <\/p>\n

When asked whether he is still a Brewers fan, Kussow joked that he \u201cwas\u201d one growing up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mets are my number one team,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the Brewers, I\u2019m definitely still rooting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisconsin Public Radio, \u00a9 Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a sweep of the foot across a dusty mound and familiar stitching in hand, Peter Kussow lines…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-128725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}