Elliot Johnson
Baseball
Coach
Elliot Johnson recently received a plaque from the
American Baseball Coaches Association with the inscription: For
a Quarter Century of Leadership & Devotion to Baseball.
Approaching 500 career wins, Johnson's teams at LeTourneau have won at least 24 games every year he's been at the helm, and in five years, almost every record in the book has been broken by players under his guidance. Only two team records remain from the pre-Johnson era.
His last three teams finished runner-up in the Big State Conference, but now the Yellow Jackets move on to the American Southwest Conference.
An athlete in his prep days, Johnson has been involved in athletics for over 35 years -- coaching at the collegiate level the past 17. He also has coached semi-pro teams and AIA (Athletes in Action) in the summers. He has made stops at Taylor University (Ind.), Sterlong College (Kan.), Chadron State (Neb.), Trevecca Nazarune (Tenn.) and Middle Tennessee State.
Johnson has also had the gratification to coach
his sons Todd and Ben at LeTourneau. Ben Elliott is a senior this
season. Todd also was a student coach one season and now works at
Heartlite Ministries in Hallsville, Texas. Johnson's wife, Judy,
is also an avid basketball fan and is at every game when she's
not teaching elementary school at St. Mary's in Longview.
(top of page)
There are probably more questions surrounding the LeTourneau baseball program possible than at any other time. Vertean coach Elliot Johnson, however, has faced many a question in his 17-year career, and he has found plenty of answers to succeed. That's his job.
As if uncertainty at key positions weren't enough, entering the American Southwest Conference lends even more questions. Entering spring drills, Johnson could point to only three pitchers -- returning senior Todd Jouett, sophomore Jason Swann and and freshman Coby Gipson. He hopes other will emerge prior to the season opener in early February.
Most coaches like their teams' strenght to be up the middle. With seniors Ben Johnson and Reese Smith at catcher and centerfield respectively, the Yellow Jackets are strong in two of the three areas. Both are mainstays, and are the only players on the team to be wearing the Blue and Gold for the fourth straight year.
Johnson hit .300 last year and drove in 32 runs, while Smith maintained a plus .300 career batting average before slumping last year. Both are excellent defensively and Johnson, son of hte head coach, has become an excellent handler of pitchers.
Shortstop and second base are position which must be solidified. Two players who joined the team this semester, freshman Joe Scanlin of Bryan, Texas, and junior Jesse Weiss, could be the answers. Oddly enough, both could see time on the mound because they each have strong arms.
Joining Johnson, Smith, Jouett and Swann from last year's 30-17 team are first baseman Brent Williamson and third baseman Nick Browne, both sophomores. Browne banged out 10 extra-base hits last season, including three home runs, while 6-3, 195-pound Williamson swatted a home run and showed signs in early drills he might help on the mound.
Jouett is the top returning hitter after slapping 16 doubles and seven homers and driving in 40 runs to go with a .333 average. He was 5-6 on the mound. Swann was 6-6.
Also vying for playing time in the infield are freshman Jason Cole, along with brothers Jeramy and Nathan McPhetridge -- all from Oklahoma. Pat Brown andJuston Gleen, a pair of freshman from East Texas, pose good speed and Ethan Harter, a three-year member of the LeTourneau soccer team, will battle for time along side Smith in the outfield. (top of page)
1999 Team Roster## Name Pos B/T Ht Wt Cl Hometown -- ---- --- --- -- -- -- ------------------- 1 Nathan McPhetridge INF R/R FR McAlester, Okla. 2 Reese Smith OF R/R 6-0 185 SR Center, Texas 3 Jeramy McPhetridge INF R/R 5-9 185 SR McAlester, Okla. 6 Jason Cole INF R/R 5-10 155 FR Inola, Okla. 7 Benjamin Johnson C R/R 6-1 185 SR Longview, Texas 8 Pat Brown OF R/R 5-8 150 FR Henderson, Texas 11 Coby Gipson P R/R 6-1 185 FR Longview, Texas 16 Jason Swann P L/L 5-11 180 SO New Boston, Texas 17 Ethan Harter OF R/R 5-8 178 JR Kilgore, Texas 18 Juston Glenn OF R/R 5-8 160 FR New London, Texas 20 Joe Scanlin INF R/R 5-10 170 FR Bryan, Texas 22 Todd Jouett P L/R 6-0 190 SR Tomball, Texas 23 Nick Browne INF R/R 6-0 180 SO Arlington, Texas 24 Jesse Weiss INF L/R 5-10 170 JR Longview, Texas 33 Brent Williamson INF R/R 6-2 190 SO Conroe, Texas |
1999 Schedule & ResultsDate Opposing team Score r h e/ r h e Inns Overall ASC
---- ------------- ----- --------/-------- ---- ------- --------
$Feb 6 Jarvis Christian 12-0 W 12 7 0/ 0 1 2 5 2- 0- 0 0- 0- 0
$ Paul Quinn 7-1 W 7 11 2/ 1 5 1 6 1- 0- 0 0- 0- 0
$Feb 13 Paul Quinn 13-1 W 13 14 2/ 1 2 2 5 3- 0- 0 0- 0- 0
$ Hill. Freewill Bap. 5-0 W 5 9 1/ 0 3 1 7 4- 0- 0 0- 0- 0
Feb 20 Mid-American Bible 8-0 W 8 8 1/ 0 2 2 5 5- 0- 0 0- 0- 0
Mid-American Bible 6-3 W 6 10 6/ 3 6 5 7 6- 0- 0 0- 0- 0
Feb 26 at Schreiner College 1-7 L 1 4 3/ 7 9 3 9 6- 1- 0 0- 0- 0
Feb 27 at Schreiner College 1-14 L 1 5 3/14 12 1 6 6- 2- 0 0- 0- 0
at Schreiner College 14-26 L 14 12 6/26 21 2 6 6- 3- 0 0- 0- 0
Mar 2 Lincoln Christian 9-3 W 9 7 1/ 3 5 3 5 7- 3- 0 0- 0- 0
Mar 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor 1-9 L 1 3 2/ 9 13 0 9 7- 4- 0 0- 0- 0
Mar 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor 2-7 L 2 6 2/ 7 8 2 7 7- 5- 0 0- 0- 0
Mary Hardin-Baylor 2-7 L 2 4 4/ 7 9 1 7 7- 6- 0 0- 0- 0
Mar 14 at McMurry University 5-19 L 5 7 0/19 21 2 7 7- 7- 0 0- 0- 0
at McMurry University 12-9 W 12 15 3/ 9 17 2 7 8- 7- 0 0- 0- 0
Mar 15 at McMurry University 2-12 L 2 5 7/12 13 2 9 8- 8- 0 0- 0- 0
Mar 17 Texas College 14-1 W 14 2 2/ 1 4 5 5 9- 8- 0 0- 0- 0
Texas College 4-1 W 4 6 0/ 1 5 1 7 10- 8- 0 0- 0- 0
Mar 22 at Wiley College 14-6 W 14 13 5/ 6 10 4 7 11- 8- 0 0- 0- 0
at Wiley College 5-4 W 5 4 1/ 4 7 3 6 12- 8- 0 0- 0- 0
*Mar 26 Austin College 15-3 W 15 16 2/ 3 12 2 7 13- 8- 0 1- 0- 0
*Mar 27 Austin College 8-2 W 8 10 3/ 2 3 2 7 14- 8- 0 2- 0- 0
* Austin College 7-4 W 7 9 4/ 4 11 1 7 15- 8- 0 3- 0- 0
*Apr 2 at Mississippi College 7-2 W 7 13 2/ 2 9 2 9 16- 8- 0 4- 0- 0
*Apr 3 at Mississippi College 1-2 L 1 3 0/ 2 6 1 7 16- 9- 0 4- 1- 0
* at Mississippi College 14-15 L 14 20 3/15 18 2 7 16-10- 0 4- 2- 0
*Apr 9 University of Dallas 2-5 L 2 4 1/ 5 16 0 9 16-11- 0 4- 3- 0
*Apr 10 University of Dallas 13-12 W 13 14 2/12 14 4 7 17-11- 0 5- 3- 0
* University of Dallas 6-9 L 6 9 2/ 9 13 0 7 17-12- 0 5- 4- 0
Apr 13 at Paul Quinn
*Apr 16 at Univ. of the Ozarks
*Apr 17 at Univ. of the Ozarks
* at Univ. of the Ozarks
Apr 20 Wiley College
Wiley College
Apr 23 at East Texas Baptist
Apr 24 at East Texas Baptist
at East Texas Baptist
* Denotes ASC Game $ Denotes Longview Tournament Game () Denotes Extra Innings |
Player AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD% 6 Jason Cole....... .500 5-0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 .500 1 0 0 0 .667 0 0 0-0 2 0 0 1.000 23 Nick Browne...... .380 29-28 79 30 30 11 1 2 26 49 .620 22 4 12 0 .528 1 1 2-2 17 42 25 .702 22 Todd Jouett...... .368 29-29 95 24 35 12 0 3 31 56 .589 16 1 12 0 .460 1 1 2-3 81 9 6 .938 20 Joe Scanlin...... .363 26-26 91 22 33 8 1 2 18 49 .538 9 0 12 0 .420 0 1 6-6 36 67 15 .873 16 Jason Swann...... .358 22-18 53 15 19 3 0 0 15 22 .415 12 0 10 0 .470 1 2 3-5 13 17 3 .909 2 Reese Smith...... .340 29-29 97 25 33 5 3 0 15 44 .454 9 2 6 0 .396 3 0 2-3 70 2 1 .986 33 Brent Williamson. .333 22-21 57 18 19 7 1 3 17 37 .649 8 3 10 0 .441 0 2 0-0 120 10 1 .992 8 Pat Brown........ .311 26-26 61 17 19 1 2 0 11 24 .393 13 4 12 0 .456 1 1 4-4 34 5 2 .951 7 Benjamin Johnson. .309 29-29 97 27 30 3 0 2 20 39 .402 15 3 16 0 .414 1 3 3-3 137 10 1 .993 3 Jeramy McPhetridg .218 20-20 55 9 12 1 1 0 12 15 .273 10 4 14 0 .377 0 0 0-0 27 20 7 .870 24 Jesse Weiss...... .200 29-26 80 19 16 2 0 1 15 21 .262 11 3 6 0 .309 3 2 9-10 27 31 6 .906 18 Juston Glenn..... .111 15-9 27 4 3 1 0 0 1 4 .148 5 2 6 0 .294 0 1 0-0 11 1 1 .923 Pauler.............. .000 2-1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 0 .000 0 0 0-0 4 0 0 1.000 -------------- 11 Coby Gipson...... .000 6-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0-0 1 11 2 .857 Totals.............. .314 29-29 796 210 250 54 9 13 182 361 .454 131 26 117 0 .422 11 14 31-36 580 225 70 .920 Opponents........... .324 29-29 850 184 275 62 3 16 161 391 .460 77 11 135 0 .381 15 12 28-33 569 218 58 .931 (top of page)
Player ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP BK SFA SHA 33 Brent Williamson. 0.87 1-0 4 1 0 0/0 0 10.1 9 4 1 1 7 0 0 0 39 .231 2 0 0 2 0 11 Coby Gipson...... 5.11 4-4 9 7 5 0/0 1 56.1 77 39 32 27 27 18 0 3 241 .320 5 3 0 3 5 22 Todd Jouett...... 6.83 6-5 14 10 6 3/0 2 54.0 62 49 41 18 61 14 0 5 227 .273 3 5 0 3 3 16 Jason Swann...... 7.61 5-3 11 9 4 0/0 0 47.1 81 53 40 16 27 16 3 5 211 .384 1 0 1 1 3 8 Pat Brown........ 7.63 1-0 5 2 0 0/0 1 15.1 22 16 13 1 5 6 0 1 52 .423 2 1 0 3 1 20 Joe Scanlin...... 13.50 0-0 3 0 0 0/0 0 1.1 4 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 3 1.333 0 0 0 0 0 3 Jeramy McPhetridg 15.19 0-0 2 0 0 0/0 0 5.1 10 10 9 8 6 2 0 1 26 .385 1 1 0 2 0 24 Jesse Weiss...... 21.60 0-0 2 0 0 0/0 0 3.1 10 11 8 4 2 4 0 1 20 .500 2 1 0 1 0 Totals.............. 6.80 17-12 29 29 15 3/0 4 193.1 275 184 146 77 135 62 3 16 819 .336 16 11 1 15 12 Opponents........... 8.30 12-15 29 29 15 0/0 0 189.2 250 210 175 131 117 54 9 13 797 .314 31 26 0 11 14 (top of page)
