« Baseball 2011

Cole Johnson

School
Notre Dame
Position
Pitcher
Major
Pre-Professional Studies and Spanish Language and Literature
ERA
2.76
W-L
5-7

Classroom

Johnson maintains a 3.68 GPA in the College of Science as a double major in pre-professional studies and Spanish language and literature. After the fall semester he was named to the Dean’s List for the second time. Johnson is one of 40 Notre Dame student-athletes in the University’s honors program. He has also been named a Big East academic all-star each of the last three years.

Character

Johnson, a co-captain in 2009, has the rare accomplishment of being named a captain as a pitcher and not an everyday position player. Over the last 32 seasons, Johnson is only the ninth pitcher to earn captain status. Johnson was one of 12 Irish student-athletes invited to join a faculty-mentoring program based on leadership, academic performance and athletic accomplishments. Johnson was selected from over 900 Notre Dame athletes, and the only sophomore inducted in 2009. He was also selected for the Notre Dame Rosenthal Leadership Academy, which is a special four-month program of seminars and workshops to develop leadership strategies, initiatives and skills.

Community

Johnson has been involved with the Notre Dame team and its community-service efforts in all four of his years with the Irish program. Through Fighting Irish Fight for Life, he and the team recently adopted five-year old Brady Burkhart, who has been diagnosed with leukemia. Johnson has also worked with Habitat for Humanity, Center for the Homeless, Memorial Hospital Pediatric Cancer Center and other works in the local community. He participated in the Life Works Dream Team program at McKinley Primary School, which was a five-week program where he spent an hour a week teaching students about setting goals and overcoming obstacles. Johnson has also volunteered, independently from the team’s programs, weekly at La Casa de Amistad, a local South Bend Hispanic community center. He participated in varied programs in an effort to edify Hispanic youth and adults in development of leadership skills, increase knowledge and appreciation of their own culture, and develop stronger self-esteem, encouraging fuller participation as community members. Johnson offered language training and tutoring to assist participants to attaining their GED. He participated in numerous youth camps in the Cape Cod area over the last couple years and even co-directed a youth sports camp in his hometown of Hudson, Ohio.

Competition

Johnson has been the No. 1 or No. 2 starting pitcher for the Irish each of the last three years. He has made 37 career appearances in a Notre Dame uniform, including 21 starts. Johnson owns a 12-8 record with 111 strikeouts and 55 walks in 161.2 innings over his career. As a sophomore he went 7-3 with a 4.47 earned run average, picking up second-team All-Big East honors.