the top-seeded Miami to punch their tickets to a second-consecutive Super Regional berth. At that point, the bats got hot. Ole Miss started rolling through opponents. Their use for the closer went down significantly for that time, because there were no save situations for Ole Miss in the Super Regional. The righty tossed 41.2 innings in 24 appearances in the regular season, fanning 71
hitters and earning 12 saves, but after he pitched 1.2 innings vs Miami June 5 to close out a 2-1 victory over the Hurricanes, he didn’t enter a game again until the Rebels played against Arkansas June 20. The 15 days between games were by far the longest time between games that Johnson had taken in the 2022 season. So, Johnson entered and threw 19 pitches to get through one inning as Ole Miss ousted Arkansas 13-5. Six days later, the stakes were much higher when Johnson entered the game. It was Game Two of the College World Series and it was Johnson’s job to handle the ninth inning. If he could hold a 4-2 lead, the Rebels would have their first ever College World Series title. Johnson struck out the first pair of batters he saw. Then he got ahead 1-2 to Orduno. Orduno fouled off a pitch that allowed the Tuscaloosa native to sit back and appreciate how big the moment was that he was in. He threw the curveball that ended it and then Johnson blacked out. For 25 minutes he can’t remember anything. After watching video and talking to friends about it, he’s been able to piece a lot of things back together about the electric moment. “Right before it happens, you look around and see that you’re in front of 25,000 strong Ole Miss fans who are cheering you on for their first Championship and Coach B has been in the dugout for 21 years. It was an awesome moment,” Johnson starts. “It was a really tough year for us. We were under fire after a tough start, but to put it all together and come out on top really cemented how special of a season it was.” Before the trophy came back out, Johnson was at the bottom of the dogpile, as the team celebrated the College World Series trophy moving from Starkville to Oxford, Mississippi. “At the time, the adrenalin is pumping, and you don’t really feel anything in the dog pile. But, the next morning I woke up, and I thought I broke four bones,” Johnson laughs. “There are some big boys on our team. When there’s 40 of them on top of you, you’re definitely going to feel that.” It’s been a few months since that College World Series game, and now the Fireflies are inching their way towards the end of the season. Entering the final series of the season, if Columbia can win five of their final six games, Johnson will see a team he’s on punch their tickets to the playoffs for a second time in 2022. This time though, he’s playing with Arkansas product Cayden Wallace rather than against him. He’s also joined by Levi Usher from Louisville, Mason Barnett from Auburn and Gavin Cross from Virginia Tech. All made the NCAA Tournament this last year and all have an opportunity to make it in their first professional season too.
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