Southern Miss left-handed pitcher Justin Storm has been selected by the Miami Marlins in the seventh round.
As the 203rd overall pick, Storm’s draft-slot value is $261,000. Storm is the second Golden Eagle to be selected in this year’s draft, with Tanner Hall being chosen in the fourth round earlier in the day.
"It's exciting," Storm told Pine Belt Sports. "It's definitely a dream come true. It was interesting and definitely nerve-racking for sure. It was awesome.
"We had a good idea of where we thought I was going to go, but I didn't really know by who, but we had a good idea of when. I was pumped. I think regardless of wherever I was going to land. I knew it was God's plan anyways. There was no need to worry about it."
Storm’s fastball sits between 90-93 mph and is complimented by his throwing angle and slider.
Storm emerged as one of the Golden Eagles’ most effective relief pitchers. This past season, the 6-foot-7 reliever held a 2.36 ERA, and a 0.94 WHIP while striking out 72 batters and walking only 17 in a team-leading 29 appearances as well as recording eight saves. Storm was named a third-team All-American by ABCA/Rawlings.
"The first two years were kind of a little slower," Storm. It was a lot of learning in those first two seasons for me. I had confidence in myself, but there was still things I kind of needed to clean up on. They had a lot of guys in the bullpen that were ahead of me on both of those teams. Both of those teams were really good and I was very aware of that. As a freshman and sophomore, I had steps that I needed to take if I wanted to get into the rotation and bullpen. Over the summer, that’s kind of what I set out to do and I was just putting my head down to work and earn the innings that I wanted. I think this year had its ups and downs but it was kind of a product of what I set out to do months and months before the season started."
Storm’s breakout game for Southern Miss came against LSU back in the 2022 season during the Hattiesburg Regional as he threw five scoreless innings to send the Golden Eagles to the regional championship game. Storm followed that postseason heroics continued in 2023 as he pitched 5 2/3 innings of relief in the Sun Belt Championship against Louisiana and again against Penn in the Auburn Regional, which sent USM to the regional championship game.
In three seasons at Southern Miss, the Madison, Mississippi native held a career ERA of 3.09. He struck out 98 batters and walked 27 in 54 appearances.
"I'm super excited for the next opportunity, but you can't help but look back and be extremely grateful for not only the coaches but the community and place," Storm said. "It’s just the program that Southern Miss is. What Coach (Scott) Berry built and what Coach (Corky) Palmer and Coach (Hill) Denson have built before him. I’m just incredibly grateful to be a part of the program and for the coaches believing in me and giving me a chance. I'm thankful that I was able to be a Golden Eagle."
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