Before she could clear the bases, Haley Johnson first remembered to clear her mind.
The University of Hawaii freshman had several elements competing for her attention in her return to her hometown for the Rainbow Wahine softball team’s series at UC San Diego last week.
Close to 80 friends and family members had come out to watch her play over the two-day series at Triton Softball Field with the Wahine battling to stay at the top of the Big West standings.
She was admittedly nervous in her start in the designated player role in the opener, a 2-0 UH loss a week ago. In the first game of a doubleheader last Saturday, Johnson came up in the fourth inning with the Wahine trailing 1-0 and two runners on base.
Stepping into the box, she reminded herself to limit her swing thoughts to six words.
“See the ball, hit the ball.”
The simple approach produced spectacular results when Johnson drilled an opposite-field triple into the left-center gap to drive in both runners. The breakthrough hit triggered an eight-run UH outburst and she added a two-run single in the fifth in a 13-1 Wahine rout.
She tripled again in the series finale, a 1-0 UH victory highlighted by Dallas Millwood’s eighth-inning home run in support of freshman pitcher Brianna Lopez’s complete-game performance.
The series win kept UH (13-11, 7-2 Big West) tied for first in the conference entering this weekend’s series with Cal Poly (8-21, 3-6) at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The Wahine and Mustangs play a doubleheader today starting at 4 p.m. and a single game on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Johnson will look to roll with the confidence of a breakout series at UC San Diego into this weekend’s return to RWSS. She went 4-for-8 with two triples and four RBIs against the Tritons, carrying the belief emanating from the dugout and the bleachers into the batter’s box.
“One of my coaches told me this weekend, ‘We believe in you, you just need to believe in yourself,’” Johnson said. “I figured that out this weekend, that I need to believe in myself to be in that box. I need to believe in myself to get that hit.
“I finally felt confidence in myself and I kept telling myself, ‘You are good enough to be here and I’m going to prove to all of these people that I’m good enough to be on this field.’ I just didn’t think. I saw it and I hit it.”
After the series finale, she was able to celebrate her homecoming with the sizable group of supporters, including the softball team at Granite Hills High School, where she had put together a decorated three-sport career.
“Honestly, it meant everything to me,” she said. “I’ve never felt so incredibly loved before, and it warmed my heart so much.
“I’m very proud of where I come from. San Diego is a beautiful place and I’m very blessed to have the best of both worlds in San Diego and Hawaii.”
Johnson lettered in softball, water polo and volleyball in high school, and the strain of repeated overhead motions placed on her left shoulder led to surgery for a torn labrum in May 2020.
“I think I just wore myself out and I didn’t take care of myself well enough,” said Johnson, a catcher/first baseman. “One day I was throwing at softball practice, and I was like, ‘I definitely tore something in my arm.’”
Her rehabilitation process extended into her first year of college and she redshirted with the Wahine last season. She had seen sporadic playing time prior to last week’s series and hit her first collegiate home run in a win at UC Santa Barbara on March 19.
“Her potential was exactly what we saw (at UCSD) — she can hit the ball,” UH coach Bob Coolen said. “We knew she was capable of hitting. (It was a) great, opportune time to put her in the lineup to impress and she did.”
Johnson admitted to missing a bunt sign in perhaps the pivotal at-bat in the UCSD series, but made up for it with the go-ahead triple as she continues to work on finding her groove at the plate.
“Having help from the coaches has really helped me figure it out and get back into the rhythm of my swing and just being able to have better confidence in myself and go up there and not think too much,” Johnson said.
Big West Softball
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Cal Poly (8-21, 3-6) vs. Hawaii (13-11, 7-2)
>> When: Today (doubleheader), 4 p.m.; Saturday, 6 p.m.
>> TV/Radio: none
