CWS Notebook: Johnson Glad to be Back; O'Sullivan Says Maddox is Ready to Pitch
Saturday, June 18, 2011 | Baseball, Scott Carter
OMAHA, Neb. – Brian Johnson looked his normal self on Friday as he joked around with teammates and hopped in and out of the batting cage at TD Ameritrade Park to take his cuts.
Johnson was cleared by team doctors earlier this week to return to the field on Saturday when the Gators face Texas in their first game of the College World Series.
Johnson said he doesn't remember getting knocked out in the SEC Tournament when an errant thrown by catcher Mike Zunino hit him in the back of the head on the mound. However, the sophomore pitcher/designated hitter can recall everything from the moment he came to.
Johnson hasn't played since the May 28 incident but can't wait to return to the lineup, which could happen against the Longhorns.
“I'm 100 percent,'' Johnson said Friday. “[Watching] is probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my career – feeling OK, feeling ready to go, but not being able to go out there.''
Johnson started the season as the Gators' No. 1 starter and finished 8-3 with a 3.66 ERA. As the team's primary DH, Johnson hit .312 with five home runs and 27 RBIs.
He thanked teammate Preston Tucker for extending the Gators' season and providing him an opportunity to return to the field. Tucker's three-run homer on Sunday against Mississippi State helped the Gators advance to the CWS for the second consecutive year.
“I almost wanted to give Tuck a hug after he hit that home run to put us ahead,'' Johnson said. “I was so excited.''
Meanwhile, Gators sophomore first baseman/closer Austin Maddox took batting practice on Friday, a day after throwing an impressive bullpen session during practice at Creighton University.
Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said Maddox is ready to return to the mound if needed. Maddox has not played since suffering a left foot injury on June 3 in Florida's NCAA Tournament opener against Manhattan.
“Austin threw a bullpen on [Thursday] and looked really sharp,'' O'Sullivan said. “He took batting practice [today] and looked good. Brian is going to be full-go for this tournament. Maddox is certainly going to be a guy we're going to use on the mound … hitting-wise I'm not quite sure yet.''
Maddox is hitting .280 with six homers and 35 RBIs and is 2-0 with a 0.74 ERA and five saves in 19 relief appearances.
The possibility of having both Johnson and Maddox return to the lineup has created a good problem for O'Sullivan, who now must decide how to work them back into the lineup. If Johnson returns as DH on Saturday, that likely would mean Tucker would move from right field to play first base, Daniel Pigott from DH to left field, and Tyler Thompson from left field to right. The odd man out could be Vickash Ramjit, who has started at first the last seven games.
O'Sullivan said the return of Johnson and Maddox strengthens the team.
“I do think, even though it was adversity not to have Brian and Austin in the regional or super regional, I do think it in another way brought our team together and helped other guys step up,'' O'Sullivan said. “If anything else, it created some depth. I think everybody has been anxious to get those two guys back because they have been leaders on our club the entire year.''
NEW BALLPARK MAKES IMPRESSION
Several Gators played in the final CWS a year ago at Rosenblatt Stadium. On Friday they got a look at TD Ameritrade Park, the new home of the CWS.
The ballpark has the same dimensions as Rosenblatt – 335 feet down the foul lines, 408 to center field – but is much more spacious.
Catcher Mike Zunino and Tucker were the only Gators to hit a ball in the stands during batting practice Friday as the wind blew in from right field.
“It's an amazing ballpark,'' Zunino said. “It's a dream come true to come here and see the new ballpark in the first season. You hit some balls well and they don't carry, but it has big gaps. There's a lot of outfield to cover. I can definitely see it being a pitcher's ballpark.''
O'Sullivan said the ballpark was “better than advertised'' and that the large playing field reminded him of Regions Park in Hoover, Ala., where the SEC Tournament is played.
If the Gators have to tone down their swings after hitting a season-high five home runs on Sunday against Mississippi State, O'Sullivan doesn't see that being a problem.
“We did some things differently [in Hoover] that we hadn't done all year long,'' O'Sullivan said. “We bunted a little bit more, we hit-and-run a little bit more. We've got that capability.''
Texas coach Augie Garrido complimented the new ballpark as well, but shortly after his club took the field for BP, he rounded the players up for a chat and reminded them about the scene in the movie “Hoosiers” where Gene Hackman's character measures the height of the basket to show his players it was the same height as their home gym.
“I had to go to that one,'' Garrido said. “I think that our players were a little bit overwhelmed.”
What did he say?
“Hey, there's a diamond inside all this other stuff,'' he said. “That's where we know how to play.''
A CONTRAST IN POWER
One of the more eye-popping stats associated with the Florida-Texas matchup on Saturday is that SEC Player of the Year Zunino has more home runs (18) than the entire Longhorns team (17).
“After looking at our offensive statistics, the committee decided they didn't need to test our bats,'' Garrido quipped. “We hit 81 home runs last year and we hit [17] this year. There's been a change. It's the way it is. We just have to find a way to score a run now and then. It's not going to be by the home run.''
The Gators have seven players who have hit five or more homers, led by Zunino and Tucker (14). First baseman Tant Shepard leads the Longhorns with five homers.
“They hit balls hard, they hit them far, and they hit them often, and that's surprising for me,'' Garrido said of Florida's powerful lineup.
On the flip side, Texas' pitching staff has surrendered only 19 home runs; Florida pitchers have allowed 35.
A VERY FRIENDLY RIVALRY
The Gators won their first SEC Tournament in 20 years by defeating Vanderbilt in the championship game.
If Florida beats Texas on Saturday, the Gators could face the Commodores again in the second round if Vanderbilt wins the first game of the CWS on Saturday afternoon against North Carolina.
It's not a matchup that O'Sullivan looks forward to because of Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin, a longtime friend and former colleague when Corbin and O'Sullivan were assistants together on Jack Leggett's staff at Clemson.
“Me, Jack and Tim still stay in contact on a week-to-week basis. They're like family. It goes well beyond the baseball side of things,'' O'Sullivan said. “I don't enjoy playing Tim. I know, No. 1, his team is going to be very prepared and it's not going to be easy, but No. 2, you just hate to see anybody lose.
“That's where your heart gets involved.''
EXTRA BASES
Several Gators have added facial hair during the postseason as they grow their “playoff beards'' reminiscent of the NHL … Saturday's pitching matchup is likely Florida's Hudson Randall (10-3, 2.29 ERA) against Texas ace and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Taylor Jungmann (13-2, 1.38) … Country music artist Martina McBride performed at Friday night's CWS Opening Ceremony … Florida is 5-3 in neutral site games; Texas is 3-2 … The Longhorns swept the Gators in two games in their only meeting in the CWS in 2005.
