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Johnson Is a Solid Hit at Yale
Yale University softball coach Barbara Reinalda knew New Milford’s Meghan Johnson had all the tools it took to be an outstanding collegiate softball player. She just had to corral all that raw skill in order to become the well-rounded athlete she is today.
“Meg had great ability as a high school player but she needed to learn how to play under control. In high school, you get away with raw talent but that doesn’t always translate to the Division I college level. You have to know how and when to use that talent and adjust to different pitching styles each game. She has always been a focused individual but now she knows when to expend her energy.”
Reinalda liked what she saw in Johnson when she was starring for New Milford High school.
“She has always had the intensity and energy and she had a strong bat and great arm.”
Moving into her junior season at Yale, Johnson is ready to continue her development and become one of the elite players in the Ivy League. She’s already close to that plateau.
Johnson was an honorable mention All-Ivy selection this year and led the Bulldogs in batting (.324) and home runs (5) and was third in runs batted in (15). She enjoyed the first four-hit game of her career against Dartmouth and ended the season with a four-game hitting streak.
As a freshman, she started 40 games, mostly a shortstop, which has become her home. She led the Ivy League in triples with five and hit .342 overall, second best on the team. A skilled fielder, she made only seven errors in 149 chanches her first year with the Bulldogs.
Johnson was a three-time Al-State selection at New Milford High School where she earned All-South-West Conference honors each of her four years. She hit over .400 for her career and served as team captain her junior and senior seasons. She was New Milford’s female scholar-athlete as a senior.
Johnson, who recently concluded a fall scrimmage schedule with her team, feels she still has lots to learn in her ongoing quest to become a complete player.
“I don’t think any Division I athlete could ever be pleased with their own performance during a season. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement and have been focusing on becoming an all-around better player.” Continued...
Johnson, a left-handed hitter, has been spending lots of time training to help her club improve on its 11-28 showing this past spring. Yale begins the 2011 season with a two-week trip to Florida in early March.
“Hopefully, we will have a better outcome for this coming season. I can’t say that I’m pleased with how our season ended up, but I am very pleased with my teammates’ never-ending enthusiasm and refusal to give up. After going 0-8 in pre-season it can be easy for a team to hang their heads but we all stayed together, practiced even harder, and did all we could to win any games we could. Again, we all have room for improvement but you cannot teach attitude and desire to win—and that’s something our team has an endless supply of.”
Johnson was pleased, but not overly so with her personal season.
“I hoped that I would play more of a factor offensively in the beginning of the season, but better late than never to get the bat going.”
Johnson has high hopes for a Bulldog resurgence in 2011.
“After last season we have made a lot of changes on the field and in the lineup and after this year’s fall season these changes proved to be successful. We have a solid defense, and finally our offense is shining again. I’m going in confident and know that I will play a leadership role this year being an upperclassman, and hope that I can set a good example for the younger players. We have a young team this year with mostly an entire freshman pitching staff but that should not be seen as a weakness. We have injuries that may hold us back, but we can prevail if our team sticks together the way we have in the past.”
Johnson modestly says she has “been lucky enough to have a decent career on the softball field,” but she also prides herself on the relationships she’s been able to form off of the field.
“Our team has formed a family-like bond and when we play, when we win, we win for each other. Softball’s an unpredictable game. Any team can beat any other team on any day, at any time. So I expected some bumps and surprises along the way. I knew class work would be difficult, but I had never been in a situation before where the hard work I put into my studies isn’t reciprocated by my grades. I’m doing all right but never expected to be putting in so much work at getting B and B+’s.”
On the field, Johnson believes her strongest asset is her throwing ability, a key for any good shortstop.
“I like to think that I have a strong arm and that’s my strength but my weakness can be reining it in. Sometimes I have the tendency to overpower my throws and that results in launching them—luckily—to my first baseman, Kelsey Warkentine. She is unbelievable, has long range, and is pretty forgiving about the way I make her stretch.” Continued...
“Hopefully, we will have a better outcome for this coming season. I can’t say that I’m pleased with how our season ended up, but I am very pleased with my teammates’ never-ending enthusiasm and refusal to give up. After going 0-8 in pre-season it can be easy for a team to hang their heads but we all stayed together, practiced even harder, and did all we could to win any games we could. Again, we all have room for improvement but you cannot teach attitude and desire to win—and that’s something our team has an endless supply of.”
Johnson was pleased, but not overly so with her personal season.
“I hoped that I would play more of a factor offensively in the beginning of the season, but better late than never to get the bat going.”
Johnson has high hopes for a Bulldog resurgence in 2011.
“After last season we have made a lot of changes on the field and in the lineup and after this year’s fall season these changes proved to be successful. We have a solid defense, and finally our offense is shining again. I’m going in confident and know that I will play a leadership role this year being an upperclassman, and hope that I can set a good example for the younger players. We have a young team this year with mostly an entire freshman pitching staff but that should not be seen as a weakness. We have injuries that may hold us back, but we can prevail if our team sticks together the way we have in the past.”
Johnson modestly says she has “been lucky enough to have a decent career on the softball field,” but she also prides herself on the relationships she’s been able to form off of the field.
“Our team has formed a family-like bond and when we play, when we win, we win for each other. Softball’s an unpredictable game. Any team can beat any other team on any day, at any time. So I expected some bumps and surprises along the way. I knew class work would be difficult, but I had never been in a situation before where the hard work I put into my studies isn’t reciprocated by my grades. I’m doing all right but never expected to be putting in so much work at getting B and B+’s.”
On the field, Johnson believes her strongest asset is her throwing ability, a key for any good shortstop.
“I like to think that I have a strong arm and that’s my strength but my weakness can be reining it in. Sometimes I have the tendency to overpower my throws and that results in launching them—luckily—to my first baseman, Kelsey Warkentine. She is unbelievable, has long range, and is pretty forgiving about the way I make her stretch.” Continued...
A consummate team player, she defers speaking about her own accomplishments when asked about her 2010 season highlights.
“I think the most exciting thing that happened to me was when one of our teammates got her first career hit, and it was a double! We had been working together throughout the season to utilize her strengths, and all her hard work finally came through. It was a symbolic victory—one any member of a team would smile to hear about.”
A biological anthropology major with a focus in international studies, Johnson says her classes are going well.
“But like I said before, there is a lot of work that goes into getting B’s. I could spend all week in a library, day and night, studying for an exam and end up getting a B- on it. You have to almost lower your expectations and realize that you are not going to receive straight A’s when you go to Yale—understanding that this is a very prestigious university—but you can’t lower your work ethic. It’s a complex tradeoff but now, in my junior year, I feel as though I’ve gotten the hang of it. I will graduate in the spring of 2012 and hope to have a job within government. If not, I will continue my education in forensics or international studies.”
She adds, “I hope to use my education to help people on a wide scale. I have been lucky enough to be gifted with a supportive family, a loving team, and a Yale education, and want to use this to better the lives of others and hopefully give them the chances to succeed like I had. I realize I am lucky and want to make a difference--as cliché as that sounds--and want to help influence domestic and foreign policy rules.”
Johnson said she keeps tabs on her old high school teams (she was also a star volleyball and basketball player for the Green Wave) “as best I can by getting occasional e-mails from my parents informing of particular victories. The girls athletic program is getting stronger at New Milford, and I’m elated to see such progress.”
Meghan Johnson is obviously making her own progress towards becoming a complete ballplayer and person.
“I think the most exciting thing that happened to me was when one of our teammates got her first career hit, and it was a double! We had been working together throughout the season to utilize her strengths, and all her hard work finally came through. It was a symbolic victory—one any member of a team would smile to hear about.”
A biological anthropology major with a focus in international studies, Johnson says her classes are going well.
“But like I said before, there is a lot of work that goes into getting B’s. I could spend all week in a library, day and night, studying for an exam and end up getting a B- on it. You have to almost lower your expectations and realize that you are not going to receive straight A’s when you go to Yale—understanding that this is a very prestigious university—but you can’t lower your work ethic. It’s a complex tradeoff but now, in my junior year, I feel as though I’ve gotten the hang of it. I will graduate in the spring of 2012 and hope to have a job within government. If not, I will continue my education in forensics or international studies.”
She adds, “I hope to use my education to help people on a wide scale. I have been lucky enough to be gifted with a supportive family, a loving team, and a Yale education, and want to use this to better the lives of others and hopefully give them the chances to succeed like I had. I realize I am lucky and want to make a difference--as cliché as that sounds--and want to help influence domestic and foreign policy rules.”
Johnson said she keeps tabs on her old high school teams (she was also a star volleyball and basketball player for the Green Wave) “as best I can by getting occasional e-mails from my parents informing of particular victories. The girls athletic program is getting stronger at New Milford, and I’m elated to see such progress.”
Meghan Johnson is obviously making her own progress towards becoming a complete ballplayer and person.
Yale University softball coach Barbara Reinalda knew New Milford’s Meghan Johnson had all the tools it took to be an outstanding collegiate softball player. She just had to corral all that raw skill in order to become the well-rounded athlete she is today.
“Meg had great ability as a high school player but she needed to learn how to play under control. In high school, you get away with raw talent but that doesn’t always translate to the Division I college level. You have to know how and when to use that talent and adjust to different pitching styles each game. She has always been a focused individual but now she knows when to expend her energy.”
Reinalda liked what she saw in Johnson when she was starring for New Milford High school.
“She has always had the intensity and energy and she had a strong bat and great arm.”
Moving into her junior season at Yale, Johnson is ready to continue her development and become one of the elite players in the Ivy League. She’s already close to that plateau.
Johnson was an honorable mention All-Ivy selection this year and led the Bulldogs in batting (.324) and home runs (5) and was third in runs batted in (15). She enjoyed the first four-hit game of her career against Dartmouth and ended the season with a four-game hitting streak.
As a freshman, she started 40 games, mostly a shortstop, which has become her home. She led the Ivy League in triples with five and hit .342 overall, second best on the team. A skilled fielder, she made only seven errors in 149 chanches her first year with the Bulldogs.
Johnson was a three-time Al-State selection at New Milford High School where she earned All-South-West Conference honors each of her four years. She hit over .400 for her career and served as team captain her junior and senior seasons. She was New Milford’s female scholar-athlete as a senior.
Johnson, who recently concluded a fall scrimmage schedule with her team, feels she still has lots to learn in her ongoing quest to become a complete player.
“I don’t think any Division I athlete could ever be pleased with their own performance during a season. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement and have been focusing on becoming an all-around better player.”
Johnson, a left-handed hitter, has been spending lots of time training to help her club improve on its 11-28 showing this past spring. Yale begins the 2011 season with a two-week trip to Florida in early March.
“Hopefully, we will have a better outcome for this coming season. I can’t say that I’m pleased with how our season ended up, but I am very pleased with my teammates’ never-ending enthusiasm and refusal to give up. After going 0-8 in pre-season it can be easy for a team to hang their heads but we all stayed together, practiced even harder, and did all we could to win any games we could. Again, we all have room for improvement but you cannot teach attitude and desire to win—and that’s something our team has an endless supply of.”
Johnson was pleased, but not overly so with her personal season.
“I hoped that I would play more of a factor offensively in the beginning of the season, but better late than never to get the bat going.”
Johnson has high hopes for a Bulldog resurgence in 2011.
“After last season we have made a lot of changes on the field and in the lineup and after this year’s fall season these changes proved to be successful. We have a solid defense, and finally our offense is shining again. I’m going in confident and know that I will play a leadership role this year being an upperclassman, and hope that I can set a good example for the younger players. We have a young team this year with mostly an entire freshman pitching staff but that should not be seen as a weakness. We have injuries that may hold us back, but we can prevail if our team sticks together the way we have in the past.”
Johnson modestly says she has “been lucky enough to have a decent career on the softball field,” but she also prides herself on the relationships she’s been able to form off of the field.
“Our team has formed a family-like bond and when we play, when we win, we win for each other. Softball’s an unpredictable game. Any team can beat any other team on any day, at any time. So I expected some bumps and surprises along the way. I knew class work would be difficult, but I had never been in a situation before where the hard work I put into my studies isn’t reciprocated by my grades. I’m doing all right but never expected to be putting in so much work at getting B and B+’s.”
On the field, Johnson believes her strongest asset is her throwing ability, a key for any good shortstop.
“I like to think that I have a strong arm and that’s my strength but my weakness can be reining it in. Sometimes I have the tendency to overpower my throws and that results in launching them—luckily—to my first baseman, Kelsey Warkentine. She is unbelievable, has long range, and is pretty forgiving about the way I make her stretch.”
A consummate team player, she defers speaking about her own accomplishments when asked about her 2010 season highlights.
“I think the most exciting thing that happened to me was when one of our teammates got her first career hit, and it was a double! We had been working together throughout the season to utilize her strengths, and all her hard work finally came through. It was a symbolic victory—one any member of a team would smile to hear about.”
A biological anthropology major with a focus in international studies, Johnson says her classes are going well.
“But like I said before, there is a lot of work that goes into getting B’s. I could spend all week in a library, day and night, studying for an exam and end up getting a B- on it. You have to almost lower your expectations and realize that you are not going to receive straight A’s when you go to Yale—understanding that this is a very prestigious university—but you can’t lower your work ethic. It’s a complex tradeoff but now, in my junior year, I feel as though I’ve gotten the hang of it. I will graduate in the spring of 2012 and hope to have a job within government. If not, I will continue my education in forensics or international studies.”
She adds, “I hope to use my education to help people on a wide scale. I have been lucky enough to be gifted with a supportive family, a loving team, and a Yale education, and want to use this to better the lives of others and hopefully give them the chances to succeed like I had. I realize I am lucky and want to make a difference--as cliché as that sounds--and want to help influence domestic and foreign policy rules.”
Johnson said she keeps tabs on her old high school teams (she was also a star volleyball and basketball player for the Green Wave) “as best I can by getting occasional e-mails from my parents informing of particular victories. The girls athletic program is getting stronger at New Milford, and I’m elated to see such progress.”
Meghan Johnson is obviously making her own progress towards becoming a complete ballplayer and person.
“Meg had great ability as a high school player but she needed to learn how to play under control. In high school, you get away with raw talent but that doesn’t always translate to the Division I college level. You have to know how and when to use that talent and adjust to different pitching styles each game. She has always been a focused individual but now she knows when to expend her energy.”
Reinalda liked what she saw in Johnson when she was starring for New Milford High school.
“She has always had the intensity and energy and she had a strong bat and great arm.”
Moving into her junior season at Yale, Johnson is ready to continue her development and become one of the elite players in the Ivy League. She’s already close to that plateau.
Johnson was an honorable mention All-Ivy selection this year and led the Bulldogs in batting (.324) and home runs (5) and was third in runs batted in (15). She enjoyed the first four-hit game of her career against Dartmouth and ended the season with a four-game hitting streak.
As a freshman, she started 40 games, mostly a shortstop, which has become her home. She led the Ivy League in triples with five and hit .342 overall, second best on the team. A skilled fielder, she made only seven errors in 149 chanches her first year with the Bulldogs.
Johnson was a three-time Al-State selection at New Milford High School where she earned All-South-West Conference honors each of her four years. She hit over .400 for her career and served as team captain her junior and senior seasons. She was New Milford’s female scholar-athlete as a senior.
Johnson, who recently concluded a fall scrimmage schedule with her team, feels she still has lots to learn in her ongoing quest to become a complete player.
“I don’t think any Division I athlete could ever be pleased with their own performance during a season. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement and have been focusing on becoming an all-around better player.”
Johnson, a left-handed hitter, has been spending lots of time training to help her club improve on its 11-28 showing this past spring. Yale begins the 2011 season with a two-week trip to Florida in early March.
“Hopefully, we will have a better outcome for this coming season. I can’t say that I’m pleased with how our season ended up, but I am very pleased with my teammates’ never-ending enthusiasm and refusal to give up. After going 0-8 in pre-season it can be easy for a team to hang their heads but we all stayed together, practiced even harder, and did all we could to win any games we could. Again, we all have room for improvement but you cannot teach attitude and desire to win—and that’s something our team has an endless supply of.”
Johnson was pleased, but not overly so with her personal season.
“I hoped that I would play more of a factor offensively in the beginning of the season, but better late than never to get the bat going.”
Johnson has high hopes for a Bulldog resurgence in 2011.
“After last season we have made a lot of changes on the field and in the lineup and after this year’s fall season these changes proved to be successful. We have a solid defense, and finally our offense is shining again. I’m going in confident and know that I will play a leadership role this year being an upperclassman, and hope that I can set a good example for the younger players. We have a young team this year with mostly an entire freshman pitching staff but that should not be seen as a weakness. We have injuries that may hold us back, but we can prevail if our team sticks together the way we have in the past.”
Johnson modestly says she has “been lucky enough to have a decent career on the softball field,” but she also prides herself on the relationships she’s been able to form off of the field.
“Our team has formed a family-like bond and when we play, when we win, we win for each other. Softball’s an unpredictable game. Any team can beat any other team on any day, at any time. So I expected some bumps and surprises along the way. I knew class work would be difficult, but I had never been in a situation before where the hard work I put into my studies isn’t reciprocated by my grades. I’m doing all right but never expected to be putting in so much work at getting B and B+’s.”
On the field, Johnson believes her strongest asset is her throwing ability, a key for any good shortstop.
“I like to think that I have a strong arm and that’s my strength but my weakness can be reining it in. Sometimes I have the tendency to overpower my throws and that results in launching them—luckily—to my first baseman, Kelsey Warkentine. She is unbelievable, has long range, and is pretty forgiving about the way I make her stretch.”
A consummate team player, she defers speaking about her own accomplishments when asked about her 2010 season highlights.
“I think the most exciting thing that happened to me was when one of our teammates got her first career hit, and it was a double! We had been working together throughout the season to utilize her strengths, and all her hard work finally came through. It was a symbolic victory—one any member of a team would smile to hear about.”
A biological anthropology major with a focus in international studies, Johnson says her classes are going well.
“But like I said before, there is a lot of work that goes into getting B’s. I could spend all week in a library, day and night, studying for an exam and end up getting a B- on it. You have to almost lower your expectations and realize that you are not going to receive straight A’s when you go to Yale—understanding that this is a very prestigious university—but you can’t lower your work ethic. It’s a complex tradeoff but now, in my junior year, I feel as though I’ve gotten the hang of it. I will graduate in the spring of 2012 and hope to have a job within government. If not, I will continue my education in forensics or international studies.”
She adds, “I hope to use my education to help people on a wide scale. I have been lucky enough to be gifted with a supportive family, a loving team, and a Yale education, and want to use this to better the lives of others and hopefully give them the chances to succeed like I had. I realize I am lucky and want to make a difference--as cliché as that sounds--and want to help influence domestic and foreign policy rules.”
Johnson said she keeps tabs on her old high school teams (she was also a star volleyball and basketball player for the Green Wave) “as best I can by getting occasional e-mails from my parents informing of particular victories. The girls athletic program is getting stronger at New Milford, and I’m elated to see such progress.”
Meghan Johnson is obviously making her own progress towards becoming a complete ballplayer and person.
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