“It’s the one time in the game when it’s just you and the pitcher,” she said when asked her thought process at the plate. “You don’t need to rely on your teammates. Then you hear the pop of the bat and all the nervous go away.”
And the softballs go away, too. Like over the fence.
Johnson, a four-year starter for the Middies, has clobbered five homers this season, tied for the third most in the softball rich Greater Miami Conference.
She also has 12 RBIs, and a .474 batting average, both team highs. Her seven stolen bases are second on the team.
Johnson already holds the school records for homers in a season (7) and career (16).
Ashley Sauter, in her first season as Middletown’s head softball coach after five years as an assistant, said Johnson also plays varsity volleyball and basketball. At a time when many high school athletes concentrate on one sport, Johnson is a multi-sport standout, she said.
“A great, natural athlete” is how Sauter described Johnson.
Right after basketball season ended, Johnson joined her softball teammates.
“She never missed a beat,” Sauter said.
Johnson is one of the bright spots on a Middie team still searching for its first win. The Middies are 0-17 overall, 0-11 in the GMC. While many of the GMC teams are loaded with players who aspire to play college softball. some Middies play softball “to have fun while in school,” Sauter said.
So instead of worrying about wins and losses, the coach concentrates on teaching the basics.
“We just want to get better every day,” she said. “If we keep preaching the fundamentals, it will come.”
Eventually, Sauter hopes the Middle Way program serves as a feeder for the high school softball program. But that may take years.
Until then, Sauter is enjoying coaching Johnson and the other seniors.
During occasional coaches meeting at the high school, Sauter said, everyone agrees they would “take 1,000″ players like Johnson on their teams. It’s more than her talent that’s coveted. It’s her leadership style.
“One of the kindest people I know,” Sauter, a 2011 MHS graduate, said about Johnson. “She’s never rude or mean to her teammates or the other team.”
When asked about playing on a winless team, Johnson said she‘d rather win a game than homer in a loss.
“I want to do what I can for the team to succeed,” she said.
Johnson, the daughter of Leary Johnson and Antonia Frazier, carries a 4.30 grade point average. She plans to study health sciences at Ohio State University and possibly walk-on the softball team.
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The Journal-News will profile a local high school athlete on Fridays. If you have a suggestion, please forward the athlete’s name and high school to Rick McCrabb at rmccrabb1@gmail.com.
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