Kelsey Ackerman | Sports Co-Editor
Cam Johnson is a junior Physical Education major from Altoona, IA. Johnson, aside from academics, is also a key member of the Buena Vista University (BVU) baseball team at first base and DH.
Head coach Steve Eddie started watching Johnson in high school, and knew that he wanted him to become a part of the Beaver baseball family.
“He comes from a very successful program at Southeast Polk,” Eddie said. “He had tremendous coaching and they couldn’t say enough positive things about Cam as a player and as a person.”
Baseball played a big factor in Johnson’s decision to come to BVU, along with the small school environment.
“I loved how comfortable I felt as soon as I stepped on campus. Meeting the coaches and talking with them was a huge deciding factor for me,” Johnson said.
In previous seasons, there has been great depth in the hitting line-up. Up until this season, Johnson hasn’t played as significant of a role in the hitting line-up as he does now.
“He just needed to get that opportunity, and then make the most of it. Over his first two seasons, our top hitters played his position, so it was just a matter of him staying patient. He has taken advantage of that opportunity this year,” Eddie said.
Johnson has a lot of fun memories over the past two years, but one of the best has come in the early games of this season.
Johnson’s grandfather who is battling cancer came to watch him play for the first time this season in the April 3rd game against the Duhawks.
“I came up to bat with the bases loaded and my first grand slam to give us the lead, and I got to give him the home run ball,” Johnson said.
Johnson currently sits second on the team in RBIs at 22 and first on the team in Batting Average at 0.391.
“He hits a great spot in our lineup, hitting behind guys who get on base a lot. He has been a tough guy to pitch to, because he can hit the ball to all parts of the field and can hit different types of pitches,” Eddie said.
Still early in the season, Johnson has many goals for his teammates and himself going forward into conference play.
“I expect us to go out and compete as hard as we possibly can and to play the game the right way. For myself, I want to be the best teammate I can possibly be, compete as hard as I can every single pitch, to be a leader, and to do my job to the best of my ability to help my team win,” Johnson said.
The Beavers continue IIAC play this weekend at home with a four-game series against Central with the first pitch being thrown Fri. at 3:30 pm.
Photo by Kyle Wiebers
