PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — This week’s Cardi’s Furniture & Mattresses Hometown Sports Hero is Davis Johnson.

A First Team All-State pick as a Senior at Moses Brown, Johnson recently returned from South Bend, Indiana, where he spent six weeks taking classes and working out with fellow Freshman baseball players ahead of his first year at Notre Dame.

“I got a good chance to explore the classroom and got to meet some of the professors and some of the other athletes,” Johnson said. “It was cool because we got to get out there and start to feel what it would be like to train with the team and hit and play catch on the field. We got full access to the facilities so that was awesome.”

The trip was also a perfect chance to feel the tradition tied to the Fighting Irish.

“On my way to the baseball facility, I’m right under Touchdown Jesus and I’m right next to the Football Stadium and you know, walking through the Athletic facilities you see all the awards on the walls, and you see the Academic All-Americans, the Preseason All-Americans,” Johnson said. “You see all the awards players for every sport have racked up and you feel the aura of what it means to be an athlete at Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame reached the College World Series in 2022, their second straight trip to a Super Regional, which was a first for the program. Breaking into the lineup as a Freshman will be a challenge, but Johnson is ready to put in the work to do his part this Spring.

“It’s definitely a heightened level of competition,” Johnson said. “Every day you are going to practice trying to beat out the guy next to you. It’s a friendly competition, making sure you can be the one to earn the spot, but it’s something I’m going to welcome when I get out there. And I’m excited for it because it’s going to make me better.”

His coach for his summer travel team, the New England Scorpions, believes he’ll have success in South Bend. 

“He has the ability to be a versatile player,” said Cody Ortega, the New England Scorpions Director of Baseball Operations. “He runs well, I think he’ll have opportunities to play some other positions, but I think at the end of the day, he’ll have a really good chance to win a catching position. And to be honest with you, he’s a big lefty bat with a lot of power. He drew a lot of interest from pro scouts last year. They’ll find a way to get that bat into the lineup and he will not let them down.”

If you have a Hometown Sports Hero you’d like to nominate, email sports@wpri.com.