Nixa is facing Class 4’s number one team in the state in a game her team is trailing. With a couple of runners on, Miah Johnson hammers a ball deep to dead center field, hitting the top of a massive tree for another homer to get her team back in the game. Nobody in the state of Missouri did this more times than she did last year. 25 times in 35 games to be exact. She’s got a simple rule for making it happen. “I feel like if you try I feel like it doesn’t happen,” said Miah, a senior on the team.
Yes, the Missouri home run queen isn’t even really attempting to do it. But there is one thing her friends say she does that helps And she finds it at her local Seven Brew. “She likes the Pink Mermaid energy,” said Jordan Phillips, a senior on the team.
“My favorite drink is a Dr. Pepper,” Miah said. “If I didn’t have a Dr. Pepper, I’d go have a Seven Brew Pink Mermaid.”
Jordan thinks she plays better after a little Pink Mermaid. “I think so,” she said. “There’s some extra pop.”
Whatever she’s doing, it’s working. Last year she also batted .563, with an OPS of 1.954. Google calls that a mind-boggling, superhuman level that far exceeds normal elite play. For Miah it’s all still sinking in. “It didn’t feel real,” Miah said. “Because that’s one of those things I feel like it doesn’t happen very often and I’m very grateful that it happened. Being able to just do it with all my friends and stuff it was great.”
And Miah’s won’t be done representing the Ozarks on the ballfield when her senior season is up. The state’s leading home run hitter will play at Missouri State. “I grew up in this area and I just like the idea of going out there and showing my community what I can do,” Miah said.
The Nixa career RBI record is also in reach this year. And her teammates are extra motivated to get on base for her so she can accomplish it. “She’s a great softball player but she’s also a great friend and teammate,” Jordan said. “So it’s just easy to cheer her on and I’d love to see her set even more records.”
And as a threat to homer every time she steps to the plate, those records had better watch out.
