TUESDAY MORNING MOUND VISIT: Don't wait until the World Series to watch baseball in Lewiston

May 5—COMMENTARY

Lewis-Clark State outfielder Bryce Johnson got one at-bat last year in Lewiston.

A year later, he recorded four hits in the biggest game of his career (so far) to help the Warriors beat British Columbia 12-2 on Sunday and win the Cascade Conference Tournament championship at Harris Field.

With the NAIA Opening Round, presented by Avista, on deck next Monday through Thursday in Lewiston, Johnson's next game and each game after that, will take the cake for the biggest of his career thus far.

After a gold glove-caliber throw from right field foul territory to third baseman Jackson Jaha to tagout a runner following an errant pickoff attempt on Friday, Johnson introduced himself to a World Series-esque crowd of over 700 in the CCC Tournament opener.

His Sunday encore hardly came as a surprise to his head coach, Jeremiah Robbins, even after a 4-for-39 slump (.102) leading into his 4-for-4, four-RBI, four-run day, which included a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.

"At this level, man, there's gonna be a lot of failure. And it kind of snowballed on him in the middle ... of our season," Robbins said of Johnson. "And we had a lot of faith in him. Kept putting him in, and he would grind out. He was always competing. I mean, he's a Gold Glove outfielder.

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"There's a lot more that he brings to the table than just his bat. But when the bat shows up, it's pretty electric as well."

Robbins said that Johnson is "a listener, who analyzes" the game and is often his own biggest critic.

Before arriving at LCSC last season, Johnson earned a Gold Glove and second-team All-Northwest Athletic Conference North Region honors in both of his seasons at Skagit Valley Community College.

With just one error through 112 total chances, seven assists, and 104 putouts, Johnson earned another Gold Glove this year.

Johnson said he credits his coaches, particularly Robbins, for continuing to believe in him even when he was in a slump.

"He keeps believing in me no matter what, he'll come up to me after a rough day, he'll tell me he still believes in me and keeps putting me in the lineup," Johnson said of Robbins. "And I'm glad I can show up for the team (Sunday)."

That kind of belief and coaching is exactly what transformed Johnson from a bench player last year at LCSC to a 43-game starting right fielder batting cleanup in the Warriors' lineup and hitting .311, with 13 doubles, a triple and six home runs.

And it's an example of the kind of excellent mentorship that earned Robbins Cascade Conference Coach of the Year honors in his first year back in the league.

A lot has and will be written about the job Robbins has done this year. It's been an admirable one and falls totally in line with the culture — some may call it magic — that he created during his first six-year tenure, which led to three consecutive national championships from 2015-17.