DURHAM — In a battle of the ACC’s two strongest teams, it was NC State freshman pitcher Reid Johnston who stole the show Friday evening against Duke; exiting the game in the seventh inning to a standing ovation from the travelling Wolfpack faithful after shutting down a potent Blue Devils’ offense.
Johnston (6-0, 2.63 ERA) was starting the first weekend game of his young career Friday at Jack Coombs Field, and threw 6.2 innings of two-run baseball to thwart a Blue Devils team that entered the night atop the ACC Coastal Division. The Pack won the game 9-2, with Johnston collecting his team-leading sixth win of the season.
“I was trying to go as far as I could,” Johnston said. “I just kept going. I had teammates behind me making plays, and they helped me out. It definitely exceeded my expectations.”
It was the longest outing of Johnston’s career, his previous being three innings, and the righty from Enfield, North Carolina proved he belongs in a starting rotation at this level. Johnston allowed just four hits over his 6.2 innings, striking out three batters and not issuing a free pass. He was in complete command from start to finish, throwing 68 of his 95 pitches for strikes.
“[My command] was pretty good,” Johnston said. “I try to throw as many strikes as I can. I don’t try to do too much. I just think it worked out pretty good.”
While his chops as a starter were on full display Friday, Johnston had solidified himself as a go-to arm out of an unexpectedly strong bullpen for head coach Elliott Avent all season. Johnston has appeared out of the pen 11 times this season, often giving the Wolfpack up to three innings of strong relief work. However, Friday it was his ability to go deep into a ball game that showed how good he can be.
“I thought Reid just came out there unabashed,” Avent said. “We were looking for someone to step up, and Reid did. I just can’t say enough things about what he did tonight, and against a very good ball club.”
To go along with his six wins, Johnston has four saves; a true showing of the versatility of the 6-foot-2 righty. He has proven time-and-time again his reliability, and hasn’t given up more than two earned runs in a single appearance this season.
Johnston is just one of many freshmen making a difference on this team, which includes his Friday battery mate Patrick Bailey, but his impact has been as great as any member of the Pack this year. In a bullpen that was supposed to be the Achilles’ Heel of this team, and has now turned into an overwhelming strength, Johnston has set himself apart and received some high praise from Bailey.
“It’s fun. I love working with him,” Bailey said. “He’s just one of those guys that gets up there and gives it the best he’s got. He competes. Someone said he threw like 70 strikes, and that’s his game. He lets guys put it in play, and lets the defense work. He knows they’ve got it behind him. He keeps the game moving. It’s a lot of fun working with him.”
Johnston has the stuff and the mound presence to make Friday’s performance not just a one-off event, and could be the answer to a lingering question of who the third weekend starter is for this Pack team that has faced its fare share of injury on the mound.
“I’m sure he grew up in the eyes of his own teammates, who had a lot of respect for him,” Avent said. “He probably grew up in his own eyes a little bit.”
Regardless of his role on the team moving forward this season, Johnston proved he can be a starter Friday, as well as when he pitched two strong innings to start a game Tuesday night in front of a large crowd at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It’s not somewhere he necessarily thought he would be at this stage in his career, but he isn’t complaining about that.
“I’ll take it,” Johnston said. “I’ve been in the bullpen most of the year, and then I got two starts in a row that I wasn’t really expecting. It’s fine with me.”
