Johnson leads Britton Deerfield to elusive district title

ADDISON –– Nico Johnson had done almost everything.

The 2021 Lenawee County Football Player of the Year threw for 1,128 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 1,107 yards and 21 touchdowns at quarterback to lead the Patriots to a 9-2 record in their first year of eight-man football.

The accolades go on: second-team All-County basketball honors. TCC All-League in golf. An almost inevitable All-League nod in baseball as an overpowering pitcher on the mound and a batter worthy of intentional walks.

It’s been a stellar athletic career but one thing remained missing. A mitten, a title of any sort for all of the teams he’s played on.

Some of the disappointment can be traced to COVID-19 cancelling promising basketball and baseball campaigns in 2020. Some of it can go to unfortunate timing, with Lenawee Christian denying the Patriots a trophy on their way to a second-straight state championship in football.

Others? Just tough luck.

“We had a shift on, kid was a pull hitter,” Johnson said of the winning RBI in last year’s 4-3 loss to Whiteford in the Division 4 district baseball final. “Of course he went oppo.”

That all ended on Saturday when Britton Deerfield baseball bested Summerfield 6-4 in the district final to end an eight year drought and a long four years for a senior class longing to put a title to their name.

Of course, Johnson was firmly in the middle of it all. The senior picked up a complete game win on the mound as the Patriots broke a 2-2 tie against Morenci with four runs in the seventh inning to advance to the final and went 3-for-8 at the plate with two walks.

“Nico has some special abilities,” said head coach Andrew Clark. “He was able to showcase them a little bit today.”

Those special abilities led to some special moments in big spots. Down 4-3 in the district final against Summerfield, Johnson came up to the plate simply looking to get a base hit.

Then he noticed something from starting pitcher Logan Keane.

“He actually shook the curveball and changed it back to a fastball” he said. “So I got my timing down for it, waited back on it and I hit it dead center in the barrel.”

Johnson sent it long and tall, the crowd instantly bustling with excitement. Just a second before it fell, everything went quiet as Johnson ran the bases.

“As soon as I hit it, I had a good feeling it was probably gone,” he said. “I’ve never had a feeling like that.”

It's something his team has seen, but to this point, no other team.

“In practice, we see that sometimes but he hadn’t been able to get one in the game and he finally got one,” Clark said. “Pretty much straight away center and left no doubt.”

The ball dropped just behind the center field fence, the go-ahead home run and Johnson’s first ever at the varsity level to put Britton Deerfield up 5-4 in the fifth inning.

“It’s definitely special for our school and our community,” Johnson said. “But it’s also special for our group because we’ve never experienced anything like this before. Just coming out here and being able to win with my brothers that I care about and love the most is exciting.”

In the final, with one out in the bottom of the seventh and the go-ahead run at the plate standing between the Patriots and their first district title since 2014, Clark called on Johnson to take the mound again.

“He’s one that, when he goes to the mound, there’s the possibility of us being able to create a strikeout or create something soft that they’re hitting,” Clark said.

Johnson warmed up and settled in to face Joshua Whaley, Summerfield’s cleanup hitter. Whaley worked a full count and Johnson casually recounted his plan with Summerfield down to their final strike.

“I knew I could get him to chase that high fastball,” he said.

So Johnson went with his gut. Whaley swung and missed, the high fastball popping into the glove and sealing the deal for the Patriots.

After celebrating the win, Johnson paused with a smile to try and scrounge up the right word to describe how he felt.

“Incredible,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of success in all sports I played the last four years and today, it was finally our time to get a piece of hardware and get it done.”

The mitten won’t go home with Johnson. But moving on to play football at Adrian College, he gets to take one physical reminder of a special day with him.

“This, right here,” he said, brandishing his faded home run ball, “it’ll carry me and I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Nico Johnson powers Patriots to district title