MONTAGUE — Montague senior Kennedy Johnson thought and thought, and while it took her longer than some athletes, she came to a common conclusion: She doesn’t want to be done playing her sport just yet.
That’s why Johnson made a late decision to play softball at Muskegon Community College, celebrating her signing at the high school Tuesday afternoon.
“I visited MCC this summer and I wasn’t quite sure,” Johnson said. “I was kind of looking for other options, and this just fell together a couple weeks ago. It was very sudden.”
In the end, the lure of the Promise scholarship, which gives free MCC tuition to any qualifying senior at a Muskegon County high school, plus the chance to continue playing the game she loves, was too enticing to turn down.
“There were some thoughts of not playing after high school but then it (felt like), I can’t not,” Johnson smiled.
Johnson is excited to join some club teammates from her travel team, the SaberCats, at MCC. Coincidentally, she’ll play on the same field where she accidentally pegged coach Randall Mikkelsen’s knee with a batted ball earlier this season.
That foul-up aside, it’s been another impressive season for Johnson, who was expected to be a key cog in the Wildcats’ attack and has not disappointed. She earned her second consecutive all-West Michigan Conference Lakes first team nod this season.
Before she heads south to play for the Jayhawks, Johnson hopes to achieve something she hasn’t yet in her career - a district championship. It’s a very tall task, as top-10 ranked Ravenna lurks as a potential finals opponent, but the Wildcats are optimistic that if they can limit the blow-up inning, they have a chance.
“That’s definitely been the biggest thing,” Johnson said. “We have those bad Innings where everything falls apart, but I think that if we eliminate that one inning, we could be good.
“I’m not ready for it to be over, but I’m excited. I think it’ll be a good matchup this weekend.”
