College baseball season underway
Brian Miller
Issue date: 2/17/05 Section: Sports
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Despite the fact that there is snow on the ground and cold temperatures in the air, the college baseball season is underway. The team has already been working out for several months and their preseason exhibition games have come and gone. They have departed February 11 for a bus trip to Tennessee to play the first three games of a 56 game schedule that includes some tough competition.
Head baseball coach Kim "Hoss" Johnson is back for his second stint at the college. He was the head coach at MCC before leaving to coach at the Division I level. He has coached at several different colleges and on different teams throughout the world, including South America and Europe. He has also worked as a professional scout. This is his fourth year since returning and he has a career record of 188-151 in seven seasons at MCC He has well over 300 lifetime wins at the collegiate level. Johnson says he loves the freedom of coaching at the junior college level called it "a better situation" than a Division I college program.
He has been preparing his squad for the rough schedule that includes three Division-I nationally ranked junior colleges in the first weekend of play. Johnson believes that better competition will make his guys better baseball players. His goal is to get his players noticed and get them scholarship dollars at the next level. "I'd rather play great competition than beat up on some (junior varsity) programs that are not in our league from a competitive level. There is not an easy game on our schedule," he said. "The better competition we play, the better opportunities here are for them to be seen," Johnson said. "If you look for cupcake wins, I don't think you're really playing for championships, you're looking for the easy road," he said.
The preparation goes beyond the parameters of the baseball diamond. Johnson wants his players to enjoy being young, but also to understand they are adults playing a kid's game. It is an attitude and a serious approach to how to behave and dress like an adult that Johnson preaches to his players. . He wants his players to be prepared to be drafted by professional teams. "You're old enough to vote for who makes the laws in this country. You're old enough to be in the military. In my mind that makes you a man. I want you to act like a man. There is a lot of responsibility that goes with that," he said.
Head baseball coach Kim "Hoss" Johnson is back for his second stint at the college. He was the head coach at MCC before leaving to coach at the Division I level. He has coached at several different colleges and on different teams throughout the world, including South America and Europe. He has also worked as a professional scout. This is his fourth year since returning and he has a career record of 188-151 in seven seasons at MCC He has well over 300 lifetime wins at the collegiate level. Johnson says he loves the freedom of coaching at the junior college level called it "a better situation" than a Division I college program.
He has been preparing his squad for the rough schedule that includes three Division-I nationally ranked junior colleges in the first weekend of play. Johnson believes that better competition will make his guys better baseball players. His goal is to get his players noticed and get them scholarship dollars at the next level. "I'd rather play great competition than beat up on some (junior varsity) programs that are not in our league from a competitive level. There is not an easy game on our schedule," he said. "The better competition we play, the better opportunities here are for them to be seen," Johnson said. "If you look for cupcake wins, I don't think you're really playing for championships, you're looking for the easy road," he said.
The preparation goes beyond the parameters of the baseball diamond. Johnson wants his players to enjoy being young, but also to understand they are adults playing a kid's game. It is an attitude and a serious approach to how to behave and dress like an adult that Johnson preaches to his players. . He wants his players to be prepared to be drafted by professional teams. "You're old enough to vote for who makes the laws in this country. You're old enough to be in the military. In my mind that makes you a man. I want you to act like a man. There is a lot of responsibility that goes with that," he said.