2013 Season in Review, Part 10. Jake Johansen, Hagerstown Sun

I always like taking the 178 mile round trip down Route 15, past a“Saturday night,” motel where I count the cars, the little house for salein the mountains that like Walter Mitty, I dream about living in, acrossthe upper Potomac into Maryland, down alternative Route 40 through themountain hamlets of Middletown and Boonsboro to Hagerstown, MD, the home atleast for another year, to the Washington Nationals Low A – SALLYHagerstown Suns.Seeing the home club Suns make the playoffs, and beat West Virginia threestraight games in the semi-finals could have been the highlights of myseason in themselves, but my supreme pleasure was seeing an unknown 22-yearold right hander, Jake Johansen, come out of nowhere to pitch 5 innings ofshut out ball to beat the Savannah Sand Gnats in the first game of theSouth Atlantic League Championship Series.The Nationals drafted 6-6 Jake out of Dallas Baptist University in the 2013draft and assigned him initially to Rookie A- Auburn where he was 1-1, witha 1.06 ERA, in 10 GS, walking 18 and striking out 44 batters in 42.1 IP.They then sent him up to Hagerstown where the first week in September, hegot two starts, pitching 9.1 IP with an undistinguished 5.79 ERA.After he had opened my eyes with his distinguished performance againstSavannah, I made a note of asking Jake to pose for a photo shoot beforethe next playoff game. He turned out to be a personable, clean cut, youngman, who personified the type of person you want to see succeed.And if there’s any justice in this hard world of professional baseball,you’ll see him succeed, and me get the house I want high up in the mountains.