ELON, N.C. – When he heard his name called by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2022 MLB Draft,
Alex Iadisernia, a former Elon University baseball star, joined rare company in the program's history.
Picked in the seventh round (217th overall), Iadisernia became the second highest Phoenix hitter to be drafted, after just Chase Austin ('09 fifth round). He was also only the sixth Phoenix hitter to ever be selected in the top 10 rounds, joining Austin,
Aaron Cannaday ('92 eighth round),
Nick Zammarelli ('16 eighth round),
Ty Adcock ('19 eighth round) and current head coach
Mike Kennedy ('90 ninth round).
Iadisernia finished his impressive Elon career with a .312 batting average, 16 home runs, 84 RBIs and 87 runs scored in a total of 116 games, 115 of which he started. He was also named a team captain for the 2022 season, his final year with the maroon and gold.
With the draft being held in mid-July, Iadisernia was able to celebrate with his friends and family for a short time after receiving the call, but had to refocus almost immediately as he began his professional baseball career.
"I had three days after the draft to hang out with my family a little bit," Iadisernia said. "And then I got sent down to Florida to the Cardinals complex in Jupiter."
Once he arrived in Florida, Iadisernia spent his first week with the rest of the drafted players to get into baseball shape as he prepared to be placed on his first minor league team. Five days later, he was activated to the Palm Beach Cardinals, the organization's Low-A minor league affiliate, where he played from the end of July until the end of the season in September. And just like that, his professional baseball career began.
"The short season was good to get all the nerves out," Iadisernia said. "It was also good to see what it's like to play in a minor league game, in front of all the fans, and playing against that type of competition."
While in Palm Beach, his team clinched a playoff spot just a few months after he joined the team, which is something that kept Iadisernia motivated.
"It was an awesome experience," he said. "It honestly made me hungry to get back for spring training."
Following his first offseason as a professional baseball player, Iadisernia returned to Florida for spring training, something he had never experienced before.
"I didn't really know what to expect," Iadisernia said. "I actually got to back up a couple of the big league games. I was in the dugout as a reserve which was cool to see. I was in the dugout against the [Houston] Astros. It was cool to be a part of a big league game and see all those guys."
Being with the entire Cardinals organization in Florida for spring training, Iadisernia got into a groove and used the time to prepare for his first full season as a pro. After spring training ended, he was placed back with Palm Beach in Low-A.
"I started off a little slow," Iadisernia said. "But at the end of April, I hit my stride and started hitting for power. It was great."
Iadisernia kept his hot streak going all the way into the summer, which led to him being called up to the Cardinals' High-A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs in Peoria, Illinois, right after the all-star break in mid-July. He spent the remainder of the season with the Chiefs.
"It was great to do the full season," Iadisernia said. "It was a grind. I think I had almost 450 at-bats. It was the first time I had a taste of that."
With it being the first time in his life that playing that much baseball consecutively, the wear and tear of a long professional season began to kick in, but Iadisernia said it didn't let it affect him.
"I definitely got a little tired towards the end, but I powered through," he said. "I enjoyed it so much."
After his season came to an end, he took the time to reflect on what he had just achieved.
"You realize, when it's over, it just ends and you go home, and it's like, wow that was crazy," Iadisernia said. "I just did seven months of baseball."
After taking a month off at the end of his first full professional season, he got back to work and said he is excited to get back to spring training in 2024.
When looking back at being called up from Low-A to High-A, Iadisernia recalled some of the differences between the two levels and the initial difficulty of adjusting to a higher level of play.
"The pitchers are a little more polished, and the game gets a little bit faster," Iadisernia said. "Experience and consistency, that was a little bit of an adjustment."
But Iadisernia said the Cardinals organization helped him get through the ups and downs of his early career, especially when transitioning to a different level.
"One thing I talked about with the organization, they said, when you go up, you're going to fail, and the biggest thing is getting that taste of failure and turning it into success," Iadisernia said. "I think that's something I did really well and finished strong at the end of the season."
Iadisernia also credited his time at Elon as a big reason as to why he's reached this level and has been able to deal with the adjustments of a minor league season.
"I don't think I would have been able to make it here without Elon," Iadisernia said. "Coach Kennedy, coach [Robbie] Huffstetler, coach [Jerry] Oakes, coach [Vin] Redmond who was there earlier in my career, I learned so many things from each of them. I miss playing there every day, but they made me into a great player."
Now, with spring training right around the corner, Iadisernia is determined to build off of last season and to continue to grow as a player.
"I obviously want to top my numbers from the year before," Iadisernia said. "I want to help my team win because we have a great organization, and as much as it is about the individual player, it's also about winning a ring with your team. As I move up, it's something I want to experience more, because it just means more in the postseason."
"I think I started off a little slow [last season], but I showed some good flashes of some great things that I think can get me to keep moving up," Iadisernia continued. "I just need to keep being consistent. I think I can do really well this year."
'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.
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