Question: Do you play other sports growing up?
Johnson: “Organized, no. People wanted me to play on school basketball teams and volleyball teams, but I stuck with softball year round. Arizona is warm so you can play year round and not go inside. I do like the winters here. I am a fan of the four seasons here because I didn’t have that in Arizona.”
Question: What lies ahead for you?
Johnson: “I don’t really know. Kind of in denial about being a senior. I think once the season starts it will hit me more. I will see where things take me.”
Question: What would be your dream senior season?
Johnson: “I think the College World Series would probably be the dream season. We need to make it one step further than last year and make Super Regionals. I think we definitely have a team that can do that. I think last year we could have, but things did not go our way. I want to go out with a bang.
“Last year we hung tough and beat Georgia and they were in the World Series. We hung tough with Florida and Alabama and they were there. With competition we face in conference, it just helps us that much more. At regionals, it’s no tougher than just conference. We are one step ahead of the game in that fact. We can do it. This year conference will be a little different with (pitcher) Stacy Nelson being gone. Maybe we can beat Florida. I got to play behind her. She was fantastic.”
Question: Do you go watch other UK teams play?
Johnson: “I do. I am a fan of the volleyball team. I am friends with a couple of girls on there and enjoy watching their games.”
Question: Who is your favorite UK athlete on campus now?
Johnson: “I think Sarah Rumely is a great athlete. She is very well rounded. We had a little competition this summer, so I know what she is capable of. The athletics department set up a few games so we played some ping pong, pool. Just games everyone could participate in and we had a lot of fun. We got to hang out a lot this summer and we work out a lot together, too. We are really competitive with each other and always push each other. I have a lot of respect for her. She is a great volleyball player. Conference Player of the Year. Who can argue with that?”
Question: What is the best thing about being a softball player at Kentucky?
Johnson: “That is a tough question. When I got here, a lot of people didn’t really know who we were. I think now coming into my senior season people are finally starting to realize we have a pretty good team. I think just changing the softball tradition at UK has been the best part about being a softball player here.
“I love helping the athletics department gain recognition since we are now noticed across the country. We draw more attention to the school. Everyone clearly knows who Kentucky is from basketball, but we are starting to make a name for ourselves in softball. I think we have come a long way since my freshman year and hope to keep having the softball program head in the right direction. That’s all I really came here for was to make sure we could get things changed and I think our senior class has started that change.”