Fort Benning, GA
Reeds Ferry (NH) School Tigers
Favorite food: I really like grapefruit juice, and peanut butter… it is too hard to choose one.
Favorite animal: all of them.
Spirit animal: the deer
Favorite position *to play in softball*: Catcher and second base, I think in that order.
An original Sea Kitten, Johnson was one of the handful of players on the inaugural roster whom had never played organized softball in her life- in fact, she’d never played a team sport. Along with teammate Katherine KC Curtis, the pair embodied- nay, defined- L’esprit des Chatons for all Sea Kittens who followed them. Johnson will be remembered as the first Sea kitten to shed blood for the cause, taking a ball off the glove and into the face in an early practice, but gained an appreciation for turning the glove around to catch. She became an assiduous student of the game- absorbing everything she could on the fly.
After going hitless in her first 12 at-bats, Johnson collected her first lifetime hit September 9, 2010, beating out an infield grounder while the Sea Kitten bench erupted in wild cheers. Johnson went on to increase her batting average in each of her first 5 seasons with the club- an impressive and unduplicated feat. In 2015- her 6th and final year with the Cats, Johnson went on to notch her first career double- harnessing some of her strength and applying it to a softball impressively.
Along with learning to hit, Johnson spent time developing a critical batting eye… occasionally practicing *not swinging* during batting practice. Her 27 career bases on balls are #2 on the Sea Kittens all-time list. And when KJ wa
s on the basepaths, she delighted- most famously in the “Running of the Kristen.”
Earliest softball/baseball memory: the many practices, and Joe pulling huge weights around field.*
Favorite Sea Kittens moment: Double plays are fun to watch. The first season, midway in, when guys stopped playing over their position- that was a very fun game. So much more action.
Favorite thing on the softball diamond: Oh I like playing under the lights.
Favorite animal: all of them.
Spirit animal: the deer
Favorite position *to play in softball*: Catcher and second base, I think in that order.
An original Sea Kitten, Johnson was one of the handful of players on the inaugural roster whom had never played organized softball in her life- in fact, she’d never played a team sport. Along with teammate Katherine KC Curtis, the pair embodied- nay, defined- L’esprit des Chatons for all Sea Kittens who followed them. Johnson will be remembered as the first Sea kitten to shed blood for the cause, taking a ball off the glove and into the face in an early practice, but gained an appreciation for turning the glove around to catch. She became an assiduous student of the game- absorbing everything she could on the fly.
After going hitless in her first 12 at-bats, Johnson collected her first lifetime hit September 9, 2010, beating out an infield grounder while the Sea Kitten bench erupted in wild cheers. Johnson went on to increase her batting average in each of her first 5 seasons with the club- an impressive and unduplicated feat. In 2015- her 6th and final year with the Cats, Johnson went on to notch her first career double- harnessing some of her strength and applying it to a softball impressively.
Along with learning to hit, Johnson spent time developing a critical batting eye… occasionally practicing *not swinging* during batting practice. Her 27 career bases on balls are #2 on the Sea Kittens all-time list. And when KJ was on the basepaths, she delighted- most famously in the “Running of the Kristen.”
Earliest softball/baseball memory: the many practices, and Joe pulling huge weights around field.*
Favorite Sea Kittens moment: Double plays are fun to watch. The first season, midway in, when guys stopped playing over their position- that was a very fun game. So much more action.
Favorite thing on the softball diamond: Oh I like playing under the lights.