From mound to manager

Published 07:37 p.m., July 9, 2009

By Jon Weisbrod

Daily Journal

Dave Johnson wears a couple different hats for the Fergus Falls Hurricanes.

As a left-handed starting pitcher, the crafty veteran still has some zip in his fastball and bite in his curve.

Johnson also serves as Fergus Falls’ manger, taking care of things like setting the line-up for games and coordinating practices.

In many ways, it’s a thankless job. Just look at what he did against New York Mills on Wednesday. Johnson started the game on the mound and did not allow a hit in five innings of work. But after retiring 11 straight batters, Johnson gave himself the hook, allowing rookie Matt Duenow to log some much-needed innings in the lop-sided contest.

“Well, we had a week off, so I thought it would be a good idea to get some other guys a chance to throw,” the soft-spoken Johnson said after the Canes’ seven-inning 12-0 victory against the Millers. “I would have liked for the game to go all nine (innings), but oh well.”

Johnson said he didn’t think twice about taking himself out of the game. It was simply the right “baseball decision” to make at the time. Besides, it’s probably not the first time he’s given himself the hook.

“I’ve been managing for the last 17 years,” he said. “You kind of get used to making decisions like that after awhile.”

In all, Johnson has been associated with amateur baseball in Fergus Falls for 21 years. Before that, he played two years at the Fergus Falls Community College and four years at Fergus Falls High School.

“I just love baseball,” he said. “Since I was a kid I always got excited before every game, and it’s still that way. I figure when that feeling stops, it’s time for me to leave for good.”

Johnson has seen his share of success too.

In 2005, he guided Fergus Falls to the amateur baseball state tournament, finishing the season 30-2.

“That was a pretty good year,” Johnson said. “We didn’t lose to a team from Minnesota until the state tournament.”

Johnson — who began playing for Fergus Falls when six of his current teammates weren’t even born yet — appears to be steering the ship in the right direction once again this summer, guiding the Canes to the Countryside League championship.

“We lost five veterans from last season’s team,” Johnson said. “I thought we were going to take some lumps, but the guys stepped up right away. In wooden bat leagues like this, it’s all about pitching and defense; we’ve done a nice job in both aspects.”

Fergus Falls is currently 12-2 in league play and 14-5 overall. Their only two losses in Countryside action came against the second-place Dent Wildcats.

Against the Millers, the Canes scored at least one run in six of the seven innings played, blowing the game open with a five-run sixth.

Nick Lewis led the way at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with three runs-scored. Teammates Alex Conboy, Connor Kerr and Erik Rohlfs chipped in with two hits apiece.

The Millers committed five errors and collected only two basehits.

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