Gazette MVP: Repeat winner Joey Johnson was always a game-changer for Medina

They say hard work pays off. For senior Joey Johnson, it paved the way to an extremely successful baseball career for Medina. Now that hard work and success have made him just the third player to be named Gazette MVP in back-to-back seasons since the award was first handed out in 1978, joining Wadsworth's Drew Saylor (2001-02) and Nick Bebout (2014-15). "His work ethic is top notch, and that has obviously showed with everything that he has done," Medina coach Mark Kelly said. "I've had an opportunity to know him, even before here at Medina, and just watch him grow as a person and as an athlete. He works as hard as anybody." The hard work is a product of Johnson chasing the carrot of just wanting to improve his game and show he could be one of the top players any time he put on the uniform. "I'd say it mostly just comes from my drive to want to be better," he said. "Freshman year I was on the freshman team and I wanted to play varsity, so I just worked as hard as I could to made it inevitable that I'd be one of the best players out there every game." It would be hard to argue against Johnson making that a reality, as he followed a junior season in which he hit .434 with four home runs, eight doubles, a triple, 32 RBIs, 32 runs, 25 walks, five strikeouts, four hit by pitches, 16 stolen bases, a .569 on-base percentage, .724 slugging percentage and 1.292 OPS by being maybe even better. Despite being the key focus of most pitching staffs this season, Johnson hit .493 with 35 hits, 11 doubles, three triples, three homers, 24 RBIs, 36 runs, 23 walks, seven strikeouts and five hit by pitches. He had an on-base percentage of .630, slugging percentage of .859 and OPS of 1.489. "My approach is to jump on the first thing I see," Johnson said. "If I see a first pitch I like, I'm going for it. I think that's when they groove one over the plate is first pitch, so I'd pounce on it. But if I don't get my pitch early on, I just have to fight and take a two-strike approach, put something in play, make something happen." Even with the focus on him, Johnson doesn't press at the plate and has become a nightmare for opposing teams. "He knows when to go get one, but he also knows when to go middle away with it and just take what they give you," Kelly said. "He's been our three-hole hitter since 2024 and they still can't get him out, so that tells you everything you need to know about a guy like Joey." The experience of being a three-year varsity starter also led to Johnson being able to make adjustments — not just physically but mentally. On the road against Strongsville on April 21 with the Greater Cleveland Conference title in the balance after the Bees lost to the Mustangs the day before, Johnson stepped to the plate with a 4-0 lead and a runner on base in the second inning. On the first pitch, he hit a deep fly down the right-field line that landed on top of the school that he believed was a home run. However, the umpires called it a foul ball. So Johnson got back in the box, saw Ball 1 and Ball 2 and then unloaded on a 2-1 pitch, sending it well over the fence in right-center and off the scoreboard for a two-run homer. Johnson finished the game 3-for-4, the home run, a double and four RBIs as Medina won 12-2. The schools split the GCC championship with 9-1 records. "That all goes with his hard work," Kelly said. "He hits and he hits and he hits and he hits and he hits again. That's all he does. Outside of practice, he's going to go hit and work out. He's putting that extra in that no, we're not seeing that, but we know he's doing it. Obviously a sequence like that, that's where that shows up. That just doesn't happen just to happen." After walking back to the plate following the foul ball, Johnson could have easily let go of the at-bat from a mental perspective, but he took a positive approach. "How I look at it is, I've already done something good, so something else good is going to happen," he said. "I just had to stay locked in for that at-bat, and you know, with it being Strongsville, I'm already amped up for that series." Johnson said part of what made him so good for the Bees was his comfort level, as he, Brian Wuchter and Alex Rossetti all played together on varsity for three seasons. With those two at his side, he has never felt the need to do it all himself. "I just feel so comfortable playing alongside all my friends," Johnson said. "It's just like the moment's never too big for all of us together. It's never like I have to do this because the guy behind me can't. It's like, even if I fail, the guy behind me has got my back." A certain level of comfort also led him to choose his next destination, as he committed to Northern Kentucky in October. His brother Jake, a former All-Gazette playerf, played there in 2024 and 2025 after spending his first two season of college at Ohio State. "Familiarity with the place plays a big factor," Johnson said. "I've been to the field, watched my brother play a dozen times. It's going to be easy going into an environment that I'm already comfortable with, and I think that'll help lead to some success in college." After four years in the baseball program at Medina, one of the things Johnson will always cherish is the closeness of his teammates, especially those with whom he shared the entire journey. "I will think most about playing with all the guys in my class," he said. "Not all the time do you get three guys in the same class that play varsity as sophomores, and that's something that's really special to me. I've created a bond with them that you don't create with a lot of people, and that's through baseball. I think that's what I'm going to remember the most about Medina baseball is playing with all my good friends." The player will remember Medina, and Medina will remember the player. "We're going to miss him," Kelly said. "He's an all-time Medina guy. He's up there as one of the best." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com.