Tyler Johnson savoring opportunity to play with Team USA
Tyler Johnson’s summer abroad is a little different than most college students’.
The sophomore pitcher isn’t spending it taking classes in Spain or touring ancient ruins in South America. He’s traveling around the world playing with Team USA baseball’s Collegiate National Team.
Johnson said he first heard about a potential tryout during the season, and after the season he flew out to California and competed with the team. The rest is history.
“I wanted to go over there and show myself well, and I did. So thankfully they think I fit the mold and be on this team,” he said. “I was jus really excited about it. It’s a lot of responsibility but it’s a very honorable thing.”
In his first outing after making the team, he wasn’t his normal Tyler Johnson self. After spending all season entrenched in the strike zone, Johnson was erratic. He walked three batters in one inning and gave up a run.
“Being in some of those pressure-cookers I was in during the season, I didn’t think I’d get nervous," the Richmond, Va. native said. "But a little nerves came back. You really had to compose yourself and buckle down and throw strikes."
Johnson then joked he was much more nervous for Florida than his first outing with Team USA.
Since that outing, though, Johnson’s been lights out. In his next four appearances, he’s pitched 2.1 innings with two hits, and four strikeouts. He’s yet to allow a run.
“If you stick to what you’re good at and what got you here, you’ll be able to get by any obstacle,” he said. “Sometimes the game of baseball doesn’t really reward that, but that’s what makes it fun.”
Johnson is on a team made up of 26 college players. Among those are 10 players Johnson’s played against including Clemson’s Seth Beer, North Carolina’s J.B. Bukauskas and Florida’s Alex Faedo, Dalton Guthrie and Mike Rivera.
Johnson joked he still brings up the game against Florida where he came in and shut down the their order in a 2-1 Gamecock win.
“They don’t make fun of me, but they think it’s funny that I came in there and threw one pitch: fastball. They said the coach got on them because I was only throwing fastballs and they couldn’t hit it,” he said. “We go back and relive that series a little, I’m usually the one who brings it up. But vice versa Beer always brings up our series. Bukauskas is on the team and he plays for UNC. So I can give a few guys some jaw, but I also recieve some too. It’s all fun.”
Along with Guthrie and Rivera, SEC hitters Evan White (Kentucky) and Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt) are also on the team. Johnson said it’s good getting to know guys who he’s “yelled at” this season, saying “they’re easy to get along with.”
But another advantage is he’s able to build skills with the national team that can help him get those guys out next season. And he’s taking home some important advice home with him, too.
“The biggest thing is that you can get scouting report after scouting report on a team and it’s a good thing to see their frequencies,” Johnson said. “But one thing I’ve learned is if you stick to what you’re good at and what got you to the level you’re at, you’ll be really successful because you do it best. Everybody’s unique in how they play.”
Johnson will be with Team USA through the end of July. After finishing up July 9 in Taiwan, the team travels to Japan for a series against Team Japan before going to Cuba to face it’s national team.
After about a two weeks on the team, he said his favorite memory is being on the field wearing the USA jersey during the Star Spangled Banner. So far he’s heard the national anthem seven times and still has 12 more to go.
And he’s going to savor every last one before returning to Columbia.
“We wear USA across our chest and it makes me remember why I’m playing baseball for my country,” he said. “We have people overseas who are taking bullets for us and just for us to be able to travel across the world. Baseball is so humbling and to know these guys are making the sacrifices for us, it means everything.”
