How Sherman Johnson’s confident approach sparked first-career 2-HR game to lead NC State over UNCW

In the moments leading up to NC State’s midweek clash with UNC Wilmington at Doak Field on Tuesday night, junior third baseman Sherman Johnson was joking with his teammates that he was going to finally lift the ball into the air. 

“There’s no way you’re going to get it into the air,” senior outfielder Brayden Fraasman recalled telling Johnson before first pitch with a laugh. 

But Johnson, who has spent considerable time working with Wolfpack assistants Bo Robinson and Chris Hart to accomplish the feat, was able to prove him wrong. The former top-10 JUCO prospect out of McLennan Community College posted his first-ever two-homer day to lead NC State to a 7-4 win over UNCW in front of 3,228 fans in Raleigh. 

For Johnson, a player that was looking to find a way to cut his 41 percent ground ball rate while increasing his 30.8 percent flyball rate through the first 32 games, he didn’t change much in the box. The only difference? He wasn’t actually trying to hit the ball out of the park.

Instead, Johnson walked into the batter’s box with a clear mindset. He appeared to be swinging freely, looking to just put the ball in play, and a positive result followed.

“It happened today, and I wasn’t even trying to do it,” Johnson said with a grin afterwards. “When I was trying to hit homers, it wasn’t happening for me. Today, I just let it come to me, and it happened.”

Johnson’s first homer put NC State on the board with a 365-foot, high-arching moonshot to left field in the fourth to tie the game. His long ball seemed to unlock something within the Wolfpack’s batting order as sophomore outfielder Ty Head clubbed a blast of his own four pitches later to go back to back. 

While Johnson seemed confident after the fourth-inning blast, he grounded into an inning-ending double play in the fifth with the bases loaded. That seemed to irk him, feeling as if he let the team down in a critical spot to break the game open.

Although that hung over Johnson’s head, he didn’t let it carry over into his next plate appearance. And for good reason after he worked a 10-pitch at-bat to open the seventh inning, ending in a 373-foot homer to left once again, to put the exclamation mark on NC State’s fourth consecutive victory. 

Elliott Avent, the Wolfpack’s 30th-year skipper, was beaming with joy for his everyday third baseman afterwards. 

“He’s a good player. He’s going to have a great career. He’s just getting started,” Avent said. “That guy’s a great athlete. He works his absolute tail off. It’s good to see anybody have success when they’re playing with you, but to see him have it with as hard as he works and listens, I’m just really, really happy for Sherman.”

For Johnson, his two-homer day proves he’s headed in the right direction. He found quick success in his first season of Power Conference baseball, clubbing a double, triple and home run in his opening 17 at-bats of the season. But that had since faded, leading to just 20 singles and 13 strikeouts in the ensuing 74 plate appearances, despite routinely posting 110-plus-mph exit velos. 

But by getting the ball to fly through the air, Johnson has been able to weaponize his hard-hitting. It paid dividends in the midweek breakout effort with his first two extra-base hits in 39 calendar days. 

And, in a way, Johnson’s increased pop is bringing a newfound sense of self-belief to the Wolfpack batting order that struggled in a seven-game losing streak that it snapped with its sweep of Notre Dame this past weekend. 

“I’ve just got to keep pounding it. This gives me a lot of confidence, but I know it also gives the team a lot of confidence. We’ve been on the struggle bus recently, we got Notre Dame and swept them, and now we’re picking it up. We’re a good team. … We’re in there fighting together, fighting for each other.”

Johnson’s growth at the plate can resemble that same grit the rest of the lineup displayed to battle through the near-historic skid. Momentum is a dangerous trait, and the Wolfpack’s third baseman is looking to take his recent success with using his power to mash fly balls through the final six ACC series left on the schedule. 

But, for now, he’ll bask in the glory of a two-home run performance.

“I’ve been working my butt off for it,” Johnson said. “And to see it finally happen in a game, in a real situation, it was awesome.”

And it’s no joking matter anymore, either.