Garret Pike has been telling Noah Johnson to transfer to Toledo for two years.
The former northwest Ohio high school baseball standouts are close friends, and Pike, an Anthony Wayne graduate, thought Johnson, a St. Francis de Sales alum, could help the Rockets.
“I’d been badgering Noah for a while about coming home to play for the Rockets,” Pike said, “and would joke with him, 'Imagine how cool the tweet would be when you said, I’m coming home.’
“Then he hit the portal, and I was pretty much begging him every day. We talked a lot, and Noah was talking with the coaches, and Toledo seemed like a good fit for him. Then it finally happened. He sent me a text, and next thing you know I get the Twitter notification from Noah, and sure enough it said, ‘I’m coming home.'”
I’m Coming Home ????⚾️ @ToledoBaseball
— Noah Johnson (@noahjohnson32) July 10, 2022
UT coach Rob Reinstetle had an eye on Blacksburg, Va., last season and agreed with his star freshman’s assessment.
“As soon as he went into the portal, it was a slam dunk,” Reinstetle said. “We jumped all over him. We think he’s going to be really good for us.”
The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Johnson is a towering presence on the mound. He began his college career during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season at Virginia Tech, retiring five of the six batters he faced. He did not allow a hit, striking out three and walking one.
The following year, Johnson made 16 relief appearances, striking out 20 of the 71 batters he faced in 14 innings. He surrendered 11 earned runs on 24 hits. In 2022, Johnson only pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out three.
“One of the main reasons I decided to transfer was to get more innings and get more experience on the mound,” said Johnson, who will have two seasons of eligibility. “With my hopes and dreams of playing professional ball, I need more experience and more time on the mound to show that to professional teams. When it came down to the schools that were looking into me, if professional baseball doesn’t work out, I’d rather spend my final two years in front of my family and friends.”
The decision came down between UT, Missouri State, and Florida International.
Johnson is the second northwest Ohio pitcher to transfer to Toledo this offseason, joining Defiance’s Caden Kline, who transferred from Ohio State. The 2023 roster will have nine northwest Ohioans, including true freshmen RJ Shunck (Evergreen) and Jackson Bergman (Hicksville).
In his rebuild of Toledo baseball, which appears to be ahead of schedule, Reinstetle has not been shy about his interest in homegrown talent. Reinstetle has a genuine belief he can turn the Rockets into a perennial MAC winner with area players.
“The talent in northwest Ohio is good,” he said. “When I got hired, I told everybody that we would recruit Toledo and northwest Ohio first. We get the ones that want to stay close to home, and then we branch out into other parts of Ohio and Michigan, and junior colleges and the portal. We’re trying to hit all of the different avenues that we can and use it to our advantage.”
Some northwest Ohio residents might be familiar with Johnson already. Not necessarily because of his high school exploits — he had a 1.85 ERA over his final two seasons, striking out 105 batters in 80 innings, and took two perfect games into the seventh inning — but from a Jupmode connection. When name, image, and likeness went into affect, his older brother Casey and twin brother Eli, both of whom are Jupmode customers, urged Johnson to strike a deal with the local outfitter. Johnson’s shirt went on sale last year, and there are plans for him to design a sweatshirt or hoodie in Toledo colors.
During the month of June, he pitched for the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, a team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, a prestigious wood bat league. He allowed seven earned runs in 11 1/3 innings, striking out nine and walking five. In 2021, Johnson starred for the Sharks, compiling a 3-1 record with a 2.57 ERA, 50 strikeouts, and 22 walks in 35 innings pitched.
The rest of his summer is devoted to training, working out, and taking a mental timeout after 30 consecutive months of baseball. He’s met with Reinstetle and Toledo pitching coach John Sheehan.
“They’ve been nothing, but friendly and open to this process for me,” Johnson said. “They respected my time and me talking to other schools and figuring things out. But Toledo is definitely home, and they were really psyched about that. I’m ready to get to work with them.”
His career has been spent in the bullpen, but Johnson is open to becoming a starter.
He throws a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, and a slider. He would like to add a splitter or a changeup prior to the 2023 season.
“We like big-body guys,” Reinstetle said. “On our roster next year, we’ll have about six guys who are 6-5 or bigger. That size and power combo, if you look at Ball State the last couple years, all of their guys are big body buys who throw hard. They mix in enough breaking balls that can get people out. We’re following that same type of mold. That’s how we’re going to build our pitching staff.”
First Published July 20, 2022, 6:10 p.m.
