|
Johnson, Lee coming off outstanding season
By Andrew Smith
The Weekly Post
|
|
Published July 31, 2008
CLEVELAND, Tenn.—Phillip Johnson and the Lee University baseball team were oh-so-close to a World Series title this past spring.
One-out-away close, to be exact.
Johnson, a 2005 graduate of Plainview, was part of Lee’s NAIA Division 1 World Series runner-up baseball team this past season. The Flames narrowly missed winning the championship, losing to powerhouse Lewis-Clark State in the World Series finals in two agonizingly close games.
While the finish was impressive, Johnson said he and his team expected tremendous success before the season even began.
“We were ranked No. 5 in the country in the preseason,” Johnson, who split time at first base during the year, said. “We were picked to win the conference and the region.”
Johnson and Lee made good on the prediction, winning their conference and hosting the regional tournament. After winning regionals, Lee won a series at Daytona Beach, Fla. to punch their ticket to Lewiston, Idaho and the World Series. The berth marked the second year in a row the Flames had made the World Series. They finished sixth in the nation in 2007, but were really only getting their feet wet at the elite level. Johnson said this past spring Lee entered the World Series with the mentality of winning it all.
“This year we knew we were in good position,” Johnson, who will be a junior this upcoming season, said. “At the level we were playing at, we knew we had a good shot at winning it.”
The Flames, which entered the World Series seeded No. 1 in the bracket, won their first four games before losing twice to Lewis-Clark in the finals.
Johnson said Lee carried a 6-4 lead into the top of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the championship round. They got two outs, but Lewis-Clark, a team Lee had beaten earlier in the week, scored three runs with their backs against the wall to force Game 2.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
