SUPERIOR — Throughout Paige R. Johnson’s freshman yr practically three years in the past, she made a pact with then-junior Emma Raye that altered the trajectory of Superior softball.
Johnson and Raye concocted a plan to get the group into the load room in a approach this system had beforehand by no means finished. They wished to show Spartan softball right into a statewide juggernaut, and rapidly.
“We simply made a pact,” Raye recalled. “We thought lifting and getting within the weight room would profit our recreation for the very best.”
Superior’s Paige “Peeps” Johnson poses within the weight room at Superior Excessive College on Wednesday morning, June 19. Johnson’s time within the weight room led to her success on the sphere and her incomes the 2024 Superior Telegram Softball Participant of the 12 months award.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Johnson, who is commonly referred to by her nickname ‘Peeps’ as a result of she is certainly one of two Paige Johnsons in Superior’s program, spent her freshman yr alongside Raye, Alayna DeGraef, Gabbi Saari and Ari Robillard devoting themselves to lifting.
Each morning, their group was within the weight room doing power and agility coaching as they made constant good points whereas striving for athletic greatness.
“Our group doing Larger, Quicker, Stronger each day motivated different ladies too,” Raye stated. “We had been in there early within the morning at 6:30 shifting weight round. It made our group higher, and Peeps was a giant a part of that. She helped get different ladies in there.”
That spring, Superior completed the season 19-3 general and certified for its first state match since ‘93. The numerous hours of exhausting work spent behind closed doorways, usually lengthy earlier than dawn, had paid dividends, and Johnson was instrumental in that.
The next season within the spring of ‘23, Johnson, Raye and the Spartans assembled the very best group in program historical past. Superior completed with a 27-1 document, the lone loss coming by the hands of Kaukauna within the Division 1 state championship recreation.
Superior’s Paige “Peeps” Johnson (10) tosses a bat again to the dugout earlier than stepping as much as the plate throughout a recreation in Superior in Could 2024. Johnson is the Superior Telegram 2024 Softball Participant of the 12 months.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Within the moments after Superior’s stinging defeat, Raye, who had simply completed her highschool profession, approached Johnson. As the 2 hugged in a heat embrace, Raye paused for a second and stated one thing that Johnson will always remember.
“We had been out behind the sphere and I used to be hugging Emma,” Johnson recalled. “She simply seems to be and me and goes, ‘That is your group now.’”
Superior’s Paige “Peeps” Johnson (10) slaps arms with Keira Corbett (17) after scoring a run throughout a recreation in Superior in Could 2024. Johnson is the Superior Telegram 2024 Softball Participant of the 12 months.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Johnson was shocked. Raye, a three-time Superior Telegram Participant of the 12 months and Division I-bound catcher, handpicked Johnson as her inheritor obvious. It was a seismic shift in this system — a passing of the torch from a legendary determine to a younger participant who had all of the intangibles and a seemingly limitless ceiling.
“She performs the sport the proper approach and is the definition of a tough employee,” Raye stated. “Peeps motivates individuals to get within the weight room and on the sphere. She simply pushes individuals to get higher each time she will get on the sphere.”
Superior Telegram 2024 Softball Participant of the 12 months Paige “Peeps” Johnson cracks up as she sits with a pair of stuffed marshmallow Peeps within the weight room at Superior Excessive College on Wednesday morning, June 19.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
As an alternative of kicking her ft up and enjoyable after being chosen as the following face of this system, Johnson bought again to work. Raye picked her for a cause, and Johnson was decided to work more durable than ever to stay as much as these lofty expectations.
Within the sweltering summer season months heading into the 2023-24 tutorial yr, Johnson was a fitness center rat. She seemingly by no means missed a morning weights session, one thing that Ryan Hendry, Superior’s power and conditioning coordinator, observed instantly.
“She brings it each day, and he or she solely missed days when she had softball,” Hendry stated. “There are simply no days off along with her. Her degree of compete, her degree of effort, it’s second to none.”
Superior’s Paige “Peeps” Johnson (10) stands proud her arms and her tongue as she runs residence after hitting a house run through the Spartans recreation with Carlton/Wrenshall in Superior in April 2024. Johnson is the Superior Telegram 2024 Softball Participant of the 12 months.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
By the top of the summer season, Johnson had her identify on a number of of the all-time weight lifting leaderboards. When her junior season began in March, she had remodeled herself bodily, and was producing as a lot energy offensively as any participant on the group.
As an alternative of being an athlete who hit for common and labored counts, which Johnson had finished beforehand, she was hitting for common and energy. She hit a pair of residence runs within the season-opener towards Menomonie and abruptly, the floodgates had been open.
“I owe it to (Bob) DeMeyer and Hendry, they pushed me within the weight room,” Johnson stated. “I’m not naturally huge and tall. I’ve at all times been advised I can’t do issues as a result of I’m small, however these two pushed me within the weight room. That’s completely the place I bought my energy.”
Superior’s Paige Johnson lets out a yell as she muscle groups up her dumbbells whereas she will get a spot from teammate Ari Robillard within the weight room at Superior Excessive College on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 3.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Johnson’s newfound power remodeled the Spartans’ offense. Alongside Melania Luostari, Superior’s different potent energy hitter, head coach Bobbijean Gidley had two showstopping bats anchoring an already frighteningly proficient lineup.
“In that first recreation, Melania hit a house run they usually walked her each time after that,” Gidley stated. “When Paige got here to life, groups weren’t going to stroll each of them. Having Paige, who can hit for additional bases and is quick sufficient to get residence if Melania hits a single or double, it solidified our plan of assault, and it labored out tremendous nicely this yr.”
This spring, Johnson amassed a .521 batting common and recorded 38 hits, 16 of which went for additional bases. The junior catcher tallied 31 RBIs and went deep eight instances, tied for a team-high determine with Luostari.
The junior catcher was additionally lights-out defensively, as Johnson completed the yr with a .990 fielding proportion. She made only one error in 87 possibilities, which helped her web Second-Group All-Convention and All-State Honorable Point out accolades.
Superior’s Paige “Peeps” Johnson (10) seems to be over to the ump after tagging out Carlton/Wrenshall’s Megan Matarelli (23) at residence throughout a recreation in Superior in April 2024. Johnson is the Superior Telegram 2024 Softball Participant of the 12 months.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Johnson is the Superior Telegram’s Participant of the 12 months, and never simply due to her on-field success. It’s for her dedication off the sphere, and her relentless pursuit to be a group participant and make these round her higher, courting again to that pact three years in the past.
“It’s well-deserved,” Gidley stated. “She’s at all times within the weight room, at all times the primary one at apply, and at all times the one to take cost and get everybody on the identical web page. She’s a pure chief, and the ladies reply so nicely to her.”
Superior’s Paige “Peeps” Johnson (10) knocks out successful through the Spartans recreation with Eau Claire North in Superior in Could 2024. Johnson is the Superior Telegram 2024 Softball Participant of the 12 months.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Gidley stated that when the Spartans voted on subsequent yr’s captains after the season ended this spring, Johnson far and away garnered essentially the most votes. Whereas she approaches a brand new management function as a senior, one factor won’t ever change.
It has at all times been about placing within the work.
“I’m going to maintain working,” Johnson stated. “With journey practices and the weekend tournaments, it’s like go, go, go, however I wouldn’t need it every other approach. I’m simply going to maintain working exhausting after which see what we will do subsequent yr.”
