Gazette MVP: Medina's Joey Johnson sees older brother as role model

In the 1990s, Gatorade ran a highly successful advertising campaign around the slogan "Be like Mike". Roughly 30 years later, Medina junior standout Joey Johnson is just trying to "Be like Jake". The Mike in the Gatorade commercials refers to basketball icon Michael Jordan. For Johnson, it meant patterning his game after his older brother Jake, a 2021 Medina graduate and former All-Gazette shortstop and pitcher, who went on to play collegiately at Ohio State and Northern Kentucky, recently completing his senior season with the Norsemen. Much like his brother four seasons ago, the younger Johnson starred for the Bees while leading Medina to the Greater Cleveland Conference title and third regional final appearance in program history. For all his contributions on the field and leadership off it, Johnson has been named Gazette MVP for Medina County baseball. "Growing up watching him and the older guys, there's countless stuff I would try to go into my backyard and do," Johnson said of his brother. "Mostly, watching his emotions in the game, I try to take that emotion into my game every day and do whatever I can do to get my guys hyped." Coincidentally, Jake Johnson's influence drew his younger brother away from the sport of Jordan and onto the diamond, which was very fortuitous for the Bees this season. "I was more of a basketball guy up until middle school," Joey Johnson said. "Once I saw what my brother did, going to Ohio State straight out of high school, I thought if he could do it, I might as well try it out, too." With one season left to go, the switch has been a rousing success for Johnson and Medina. This season Johnson led the county in RBIs (32) and walks (25) and tied teammate Brian Wuchter and Buckeye's Scott DiMarco for the lead in runs (35). He also was among county leaders with a .434 average, 33 hits, four home runs, eight doubles, one triple, four hit by pitches, 16 stolen bases, a .569 on-base percentage, .724 slugging percentge and 1.292 OPS. He only struck out five times and made just four errors in 75 chances for a .947 fielding percentage as the team's primary second baseman. Johnson was even more impressive in the Bees' most important games and moments this season. In helping Medina reclaim the GCC title from rival Strongsville, Johnson was 19-for-28 (.679) in 11 league games with four doubles, one triple, one home run, 16 RBIs and 18 runs. In four tournament games, Johnson was 3-for-9 (.333) with a double, two RBIs and four runs scored. "There's not a moment that's too big for Joey," Medina coach Mark Kelly said. "That's the cool part about Joey. He settles the team down a lot. He wants that moment when the game is on the line. "Any time we needed a hit and Joey was up, he came through all year. What he did in the GCC or in the tournament, he was always the guy to get the rally going for us." That was especially true late in close games. Johnson twice rallied the Bees against the Mustangs with a key run and a clutch RBI. He hit a game-tying single in the seventh inning of a 3-2 win in eight innings over Wadsworth, had a go-ahead home run in a 5-3 win over Olentangy and had an RBI single in the seventh in an 8-6 victory over St. Mary's Ryken. Finally, he had a walk-off single in a 2-1 win over Brunswick. "He's always out hitting and working hard in the weight room," Kelly said. "That's where (his leadership) is demonstrated. I think his teammates see that and respect him. Next thing you know, they're all hitting together." Johnson talked about his dedication to working on his craft as a hitter, boiling it down to simply how much he enjoys hitting a baseball and coming through for his teammates. For as much as you can talk about his time in the cage, or his time in the weight room that Johnson admits turned him from purely a singles hitter to a guy with the ability to attack gaps and hit home runs, he credits his growth to the guys he had hitting around him this year. Johnson went from a .355 hitter with 15 RBIs and 20 runs as a sophomore to breaking out this season. "I had a year of varsity experience and obviously that helps, but having Luka Pagura behind me made teams feel like they had to throw to me," Johnson said. "I had another dude behind me and when I'm on base, he's hitting me in. That made a huge difference." The only thing that kept this year from being a completed storybook season was a 3-2 loss against Perrysburg in the regional finals that denied Medina its first state semifinal berth. Looking forward to reaching that next step has Johnson and his returning teammates already eagerly anticipating the offseason program. "I think it fuels a bunch of us," Johnson said. "We had some guys in tears that weren't even seniors. It was definitely a heartbreaker for us. Guys said after the game, 'That's the worst feeling I've ever felt.' We're going to get right back at it. We can't wait to do it again." If Johnson has another season like this one, he may just lead the Bees into the final four next year. For now, his hard work has paid off for him and the team. "In house, we knew what we had (coming into the season) with Joey," Kelly said. "We knew we had one of the best hitters in the state of Ohio and obviously it showed. I'm just glad that he was able to get his recognition like he deserves, for sure." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.