June 9, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame senior RHP Cole Johnson and C Matt Scioscia were selected during Wednesday’s third and final day of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Johnson was chosen with the 27th pick of the 44th round or the 1348th overall by the Minnesota Twins, while Scioscia was chosen with the 14th pick of the 45th round or the 1,365th overall by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Irish also had one incoming recruit selected on day three. Right-handed pitcher Patrick Connaughton was the 22nd pick of the 38th round or the 1,163rd pick overall by the San Diego Padres.
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Johnson went 5-7 with a 2.76 earned-run average in 2011. He registered 11 quality starts over his 15 outings in 2011. Johnson also worked into the seventh inning in 10 of his 15 starts. He struck out 87 and walked 31 in 101.0 innings pitched. Johnson limited his foes to a .211 batting average and a total of just 78 hits. Johnson allowed two earned runs or less in nine starts. In fact, he allowed an earned run or less in seven outings.
Johnson led or tied for the team-lead in ERA, opposing batting average, wins, fewest hits allowed, fewest runs allowed and fewest earned runs allowed. He ranked third in the BIG EAST in opposing batting average, fifth in strikeouts, tied for fifth in games started (15), sixth in strikeouts looking (27), eighth in ERA, and ninth in innings pitched.
Johnson, a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award and Capital One Academic All-District V selection, maintained a 3.68 GPA in the College of Science as a double major in pre-professional studies and Spanish language and literature. After the 2010 fall semester, he was named to the Dean’s List for the second time. Johnson was also one of 40 Notre Dame student-athletes in the University’s honors program. He was also named a BIG EAST academic all-star each of the last four years.
| Year | era | w-l | app | gs | cg | sho | sv | ip | h | r | er | bb | so | 2b | 3b | hr | bf | bavg | wp | hbp | bk |
| 2008 | 5.30 | 2-2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0/1 | 0 | 35.2 | 46 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 157 | .322 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2009 | 4.47 | 7-3 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 0/0 | 0 | 94.2 | 87 | 53 | 47 | 36 | 64 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 416 | .249 | 3 | 16 | 1 |
| 2010 | 7.76 | 3-3 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0/1 | 0 | 31.1 | 47 | 30 | 27 | 11 | 19 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 149 | .353 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2011 | 2.76 | 5-7 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0/3 | 0 | 101.0 | 78 | 35 | 31 | 31 | 87 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 421 | .211 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 4.32 | 17-15 | 52 | 36 | 2 | 0/5 | 0 | 262.2 | 258 | 140 | 126 | 86 | 198 | 57 | 8 | 17 | 1143 | .260 | 6 | 29 | 3 |
Scioscia played in 88 games over his Irish career and started 40. He batted .267 with two home runs and 34 RBI with 14 runs scored and six doubles.
| Year | avg | gp-gs | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | tb | slg% | bb | hbp | so | gdp | ob% | sf | sh | sb-att |
| 2008 | .308 | 16-5 | 26 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | .500 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .379 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| 2009 | .265 | 28-19 | 68 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 23 | .338 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .301 | 1 | 0 | 0-0 |
| 2010 | .288 | 28-10 | 52 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 17 | .327 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 3 | .371 | 2 | 1 | 0-0 |
| 2011 | .200 | 16-6 | 30 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | .200 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .226 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| TOTAL | .267 | 88-40 | 176 | 14 | 47 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 59 | .335 | 13 | 3 | 31 | 3 | .323 | 3 | 1 | 0-0 |
Over the last 15 years, 14 of 17 Notre Dame signees who were drafted out of high school went on to be higher-round draft picks as members of the Irish baseball program, which also has produced 39 players during the past 15 seasons who were drafted out of Notre Dame despite going undrafted as high school seniors.