Colton Johnson must have thought about pitching in the postseason.
Just months ago he carried his laptop to a dorm room. Maybe he ate an ice cream cone in a dining hall. He found the practice field. He played long toss with teammates he just met. He threw a bullpen session. He threw another. He walked 21 over 40 2/3 innings this season, but he struck out 24, too.
Johnson shuffled through his smart phone on the bus rides back to Normal, and he wore T-shirts stamped with baseballs and red birds.
Johnson watched his team, Illinois State, beat Missouri State to end the regular season, and he watched them do it again on the first day of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Wednesday. The two played again on Friday night, with Illinois State looking to knock out the conference champs. The Redbirds were 15-38, and the Bears were 39-16.
Johnson started a postseason game at 9:43 p.m., two hours and 13 minutes later than scheduled. His team was the 8th seed but hadn’t lost yet, and the Bears were playing their fourth game in 48 hours.
Johnson gave up a single, then he got a fly ball. But then he started missing the strike zone. Surely he pitched around conference player of the year Jake Burger, and maybe Jeremy Eierman, too. He faced Blake Graham with the bases loaded –
and Johnson walked him, too.
Okay, a run. 1-0 Missouri State. Graham might have doubled, anyway. But Alex Jefferson smashed a ball up the middle, scoring Burger for another run.
Six batters in, the freshman starter was gone after 1/3 of an inning.
Mitch Weis jogged in from the bullpen. A redshirt senior. Control good enough to play college baseball. Sometimes he struggled with control. Who doesn’t? He had enough bus ride playlists to last ten more seasons. Maybe he helped Johnson find the practice field last year.
He faced the MSU pinch hitter, Jack Duffy, who subbed for Landan Ruff. Bases loaded. He walked him, too, plating another run. Maybe a little nervous. Seniors make mistakes.
Then Weis walked Logan Geha, making it 4-0 in the top of the first, three on bases loaded walks.
Weis has had enough of chicken strips in college dining halls. He threw his bullpen sessions, and he studied film, and he lifted weights. He had experience.
Weis and Johnson were ready to pitch, but they walked nine batters in two innings.
The Bears left the bases loaded after a force at home, and a strikeout by the leadoff hitter. They started a freshman, Nate Witherspoon, who watched his teammates hit for 33 minutes before he made his way to the mound. He was ready to pitch, too.
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