Davenport Northwest star Anthony Johnson Jr. first popped on Mark Erwin’s radar when the pitcher was just 10 years old.
Johnson was the opposing hurler in a game against a team of 12-year-olds coached by Erwin. The southpaw dazzled his future coach in a regular-season Little League game in Davenport that day.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this kid’s going to be pretty special in a year or two,” Erwin said in a phone interview with The Des Moines Register on Sunday, Aug. 23. “And he is.”
That was abundantly obvious to the rest of the nation on Sunday as Johnson Jr. guided his team to a second straight win at the Little League World Series. Iowa posted a 6-0 victory over Bayonne (New Jersey) in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Johnson Jr. struck out 15 batters and allowed just one hit in 5 2/3 innings of work.
He also drove in four runs, including a towering three-run home run in the top of the sixth/final inning.
“It was amazing,” Johnson said in a phone interview with the Register.
Johnson Jr. polished off his team’s combined no-hitter two days earlier in Iowa’s tournament opener, getting the last two outs of the game. He was masterful in his Sunday start, walking just one batter and giving up just the one hit, an infield single.
Johnson Jr.’s home run traveled 300 feet to center field and gave his team some breathing room.
“That’s the furthest ball I’ve hit with a USSSA bat,” Johnson Jr. said.
None of it came as a surprise to Erwin, especially after Johnson Jr. showed up that day and began mowing down hitters two years older. One of the players on Erwin’s team was his older son Ethan. While Erwin’s team ended up winning the game, it didn’t come easy. The challenging game left a mark in Erwin’s memory.
“AJ held us pretty close,” said Erwin, whose son Caleb is on this year’s Davenport LLWS team.
Johnson Jr. belted his first home run at age 8. He also smacked a home run in the first game of this season, Erwin said. Fitting for a kid who models his game after Ken Griffey Jr.
Like Griffey Jr., Johnson Jr. has plenty of pop in his bat (Erwin recalls another home run that traveled more than 300 feet this summer). The Davenport coach credits Johnson Jr.’s quick hands for his power. Throwing batting practice to Johnson Jr. has become a dangerous proposition.
“I pretty much back up and hide,” Erwin said.
Johnson Jr.’s pitching style is unique among LLWS hurlers. He certainly throws hard enough, but his curveball and changeup are his money pitches. Johnson Jr. used those off-speed offerings to cruise through the Bayonne lineup. He threw 86 pitches, including 57 strikes. He was lifted after reaching the LLWS pitch limit of 85.
“That was the best experience of my life,” Johnson Jr. said.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Davenport Northwest coach knew Anthony Johnson Jr. was a special player
Reporting by Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
