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“There’s rec softball, AAU softball and then there’s Teri Johnson softball. I’m a very aggressive coach. We will do whatever it takes to get a run — my No. 4 hitter squeezed in a run last week. If you bobble a ball, we’re going to run on you.” Teri Johnson
Butch Noble
In her 26th year leading James Logan, coach Teri Johnson (right) can attain her 500th career victory with a win over Irvington on May 3.
game the right way. “I pulled my No. 1 player out for not hustling down the line,” she said. “The girls know that it doesn’t matter if you’re No. 1 or No. 15, Johnson will treat you the same. I told the player I pulled out she couldn’t expect me to take another girl out of the game for not hustling and then not take her out. “I’ll take a loss,” she said. Of course, she hasn’t taken that many, and this year’s group, led by sophomore pitcher Raeann Garza and junior infielders Alexis Martinez and Jasmine Reed, is upholding the Logan tradition of team success and individual stars. The brightest star to come from the Union City school is Vicky Galindo, a shortstop who went on to play for Cal and the U.S. Olympic team, but she’s far from the only success story. Other Colts who’ve made a national impression include Melanie Alkire (a pitcher at Notre Dame), Cheryl Barnes (a catcher for Boston College) and Linda Matsumoto (a pitcher at UC Santa Barbara). Still, Johnson has had to make adjustments over the years, and this season has included one of the bigger ones, as the pitching rubber was moved back to 43 feet (from 40 feet).
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“A lot of girls are struggling with that extra three feet,” said Johnson. “There’s a lot more hitting. But that’s what they play in the summer in AAU, so it’s not that new.” But summer ball isn’t perfect: Johnson has issues with the way the club programs are run, and the biggest is cost. “A lot of the good players aren’t able to afford the really good club teams,” said Johnson, especially those from less affluent areas. It can cost more than $2,000 to play for one of the elite traveling teams, so many of her players are shut out of the exposure the top teams get. “Out here, a lot of my girls can’t afford it.” Ironically, the payoff of a potential college scholarship simply may not be worth it. Because unlike Division I basketball, which has 15 full rides per program, D-1 softball teams usually divvy up eight to 12 scholarships among a group of players. “One of my parents kept track of every expense on a spread sheet from when her daughter started playing at 10 years old,” said Johnson. “The girl got a partial scholarship, but it cost the family $48,000. “And some girls don’t get scholarships, so when is enough enough?”
April 28, 2011
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