Making a Second Run in 2022 By John Kocsis Jr.
“From last four in, to last team standing, Ole Miss has won the College World Series.” Mike Monaco bellowed after Brandon Johnson tossed a curveball passed the swinging bat of Oklahoma Sooner’s designated hitter Sebastian Orduno to win his Alma Mater’s first College World Series. It was a long journey for the right- handed reliever. He had two division two offers out of high school, and
the Tuscaloosa native committed to the University of Alabama-Huntsville to begin his collegiate career. “I went there for a year, redshirted and decided to go a different route,” Johnson explains. “I went to Junior College at Columbia State Community College for the next two years.” It was time for Johnson to move on for junior college in 2020, but that was the COVID year, which gave the pitcher an extra calendar year to decide where he would attend. He ultimately decided to stray away from him home Crimson Tide and moved to the state’s next-door neighbor to attend Ole Miss. “It was the best decision for me because it was a great opportunity for me in baseball, but it also had what I wanted to pursue academically in a degree in Mechanical Engineering.” Johnson explains. Immediately, Johnson was tasked with pitching in high-leverage situations for the Rebels, making 18 relief appearances in his junior campaign, finishing 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA. He pitched twice in the SEC tournament in 2021 and was on the mound in the Super Regionals as the Rebels faced-off with Arizona after being the last team to punch their ticket to the Super Regionals. “They were the best offensive team in college baseball that year. You’re standing on the mound against a team that kid hit the ball really well, so you have to think about how you can execute your game plan to the best of your ability, because that was a team that didn’t really have too many flaws,” Johnson tells. Against all odds, the significant underdog was able to force a monumental game three against the Wildcats. That’s where the 2021 run would end though, as the Rebels lost 16-2 after winning 45 games and making it to the final game of the Super Regionals. The Rebels were back in 2022. They roared out and won 42 games and were the 64th team to punch their tickets to the NCAA Tournament. As fate would have it, they drew a card to play Arizona again early in the playoffs. “It was a fluke that we met them in Miami, but it was really cool that we were able to play them in a double elimination game because we have had so much respect for them coming from what happened the year before,” Johnson relays. “We were able to get a bit of revenge for the year before when we eliminated them.” Ole Miss was able to upend Arizona 7-4 before beating
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