Athlete of the Week: On the fast track to success
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It's the question any pitcher would kill to have the opportunity to answer - What does it feel like to throw 100 miles per hour?
St. Edward’s Hilltopper Stephen Johnson is qualified, "I don't know. I can't really describe it. I just kind of let my arm go and it does itself."
There are a lot of questions that are hard to answer with the St. Edward's pitcher's story because it's an unlikely one. He was lightly recruited out of high school and he came to Austin throwing in the upper-80s. Two-years later, Baseball America considers him the upcoming draft's 59th best prospect in the entire nation.
While it's a bit unusual for a Division Two player to be as highly regarded as the junior, his coach Rob Penders said it absolutely didn’t happen by chance.
"It really shows his work ethic and the things he's done to make himself a better ballplayer. To be in the top 60 in the country at anything is pretty good, but it doesn't matter where you are, you can get it done. It's just about being in the right place and working hard and that's what he's done," Penders said.
This past summer, Johnson went up against some of the best competition in the country when he played in the California Collegiate League. As a small school guy in a sea of major college players, he said he felt like he needed to prove himself, and he did, posting a 1.88 ERA in 24-innings as the team's closer.
After spending his first two-years at St. Edward's as a starter, it was the 6-5 flame-thrower's first experience as a stopper. He loved it and he'll occupy that role for the Hilltoppers this spring.
"I like closing. I like the pressure, just coming out and knowing I've got the team on my back and I can carry them through this last inning -- or last two innings -- to bring home a win," Johnson said.
Right now, it's just the pressure of closing games at a Division Two college. If he does enough over the next four-months, he's likely to hear his name called early in June's draft and find out what the pressure is like as a professional.
Johnson and the Hilltoppers had three-games scheduled this past weekend, but all of them were postponed by rain and will be made-up early this week.
Austin is home to many promising high school, amateur and professional athletes. On Mondays, YNN profiles one athlete, including a behind-the-scenes look at their path to success in
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