Columbia Softball Powered by Versatile Freshman Ace

Through the first few games of the season, Columbia softball has been all about the freshmen.

“They have so much previous experience that we don’t really even look at them as freshmen,” said head coach Kayla Noonan. “We have the same expectations for them as we do for everyone else.”

And no one exemplifies the youth movement better than Maggie Johnson.

The freshman is contributing on the offensive end, hitting a solid .250 with a home run and 11 RBI in 80 at-bats at first base and as a designated hitter this season.
Most of her damage for the Lions, however, is done on the mound. Over the first 32 games of the season, Johnson has shined in her role as a Light Blue starting pitcher. In her 17 appearances this year, she is 8-6 with a 2.38 ERA. The right-hander has thrown 91 innings, striking out 55 batters and holding opponents to a .275 batting average, all of which lead the team.

Johnson’s emergence as the ace of the Lions’ pitching staff was certainly not unexpected. She began playing softball at the age of five and started taking private pitching lessons as early as age eight. Her first varsity at-bat resulted in a home run at Monte Vista High in Danville, California, and she was named to the East Bay Athletic League’s First Team twice.

On top of that, Columbia was one of her first college choices. In addition to the Ivy League education and the New York location, she already had a West Coast connection with many of the current players on the team. Eight of the team’s seventeen players hail from California.

“I already knew some of the girls on the team since so many of us are from California,” she said.

Additionally, Johnson says her conversations with Noonan proved to be the decisive factor in choosing to play at Columbia.

“I really like coach’s positive outlook towards the game ... she’s a fun person to be around,” Johnson said. “I really felt like she showed a genuine desire to have me here when I visited.”

That said, she admits that she may have been too eager come and thus put herself at risk when she chose to forego all her other college options and apply to Columbia early decision.

“I took my visit on Halloween weekend last fall and didn’t apply anywhere else,” she said. “I kind of put all my eggs in one basket.”

Asked where she’d be now if she wasn’t admitted to Columbia, Johnson replied, “I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t gotten in. Probably sitting at home, not in school, doing nothing,” she laughed.

Fortunately for Johnson and the Lions, she received her acceptance letter last December and the rest, as they say, is history.