*Available 2025*(197cm) France D1 OBP Leader 2024, Offensive Player of Year Sweden 2023. POWER HITTING Canadian OF/1B with Home Run Record, Team Captain w/ Overseas Experience – | Baseball Jobs Overseas

by | Sep 29, 2024

*Available 2025*(197cm) France D1 OBP Leader 2024, Offensive Player of Year Sweden 2023. POWER HITTING Canadian OF/1B with Home Run Record, Team Captain w/ Overseas Experience –

Name: Kian Johnston

Height: 197cm

Weight: 98kg

DOB: June 24, 1999

Date Available: January 1, 2024

Bats: R

Throws: R

Positions: Utl, 1B, OF, RF, CF, LF

Positions (alt): Youth Coach, 3B, OF, RP

College: Douglas College; Eastern New Mexico University

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Personal

At the plate, Kian hits for average and with power.  His exit velocity off the tee ranges into the high-90s (mph) and has hit some balls at well over 100 mph in summer league competition.  He has good speed, having run the 60-yard dash in as little as 6.7 seconds, and this is an asset on the base paths and in the field.

During his collegiate career, he concentrated on playing first base and the corner outfield spots, but he also started pitching some in 2021 and is continuing to develop that aspect of his game so he can be even more versatile.

Kian is a very hard-working player who is a supportive and energetic teammate.  He is a lead-by-example type who consistently puts team goals ahead of individual ones. “I am dedicated to making myself and my peers better,” he says.

He also has much youth coaching experience in his background and would be excited about applying this to any club he might be associated with.

 

Career Highlights

  • Summer 2019 – Power Summer Collegiate League

    • .387 regular-season AVG (highest among JUCO players)

    • With playoffs included slashed .353/.425/.471/.896\

    • Voted second-team all-star

  • Spring 2020 Douglas College (NWAC)

    • Tied for most hits

    • NWAC (North Region) Sportsmanship Award Recipient
    •  Signed with the Medford Rogues for summer 2020 (top 25 summer collegiate team at the time)
  •  Played at Eastern New Mexico University, an NCAA D2 school in the U.S

  • Summer 2021/2022 – San Francisco Seals (Independent summer collegiate)

    • Team captain 2022

    • 30 RBIs in 30 games 2021

    • .296 AVG/.391 OBP/.820 OPS

    • 33% of hits were for extra bases

    • 6 Shutouts innings as relief pitcher 2022

    • Went 3/4 in 2022 against the Healdsburg Prune Packers (a team that was back to back CCL state champions and had 9 draft picks in 2022)
    • Broke up a no hitter in 2021 against the Santa Barbara Forestors (ranked 2nd best summer collegiate team in the USA)

  • Graduated in December 2022 with Honors (3.86GPA)

  • Summer 2023 Karlskoga Bats (Elitserien)
    • Led League in Home runs (Club Record)
    • Led League in OPS/SLG/OBP/HBP
    • .1000 fielding % in Outfield
    • Week VII Highlighted Player “Canadian Baseball Network”
    • BBJO Player of the week May 25-28
    • BBJO Player of the week nominee Aug 17-20
    • Awarded Best Batter in Elitserien 2023
  • Summer 2024 La Rochelle Boucaniers (France D1)
  •  –Led League in OBP by .21 (.479) 
  • -5th in League Batting Average
  • -6th in League SLG

 

Overseas Goals

Kian wants to continue his playing career, compete at the highest level possible, and experience different cultures.  He says that he would “like to learn and grow as a person and be able to share his passion for the game.”

 

Articles/Recognitions

https://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles/cbn-players-of-the-week-week-viii-matt-coutney-david-mccabe

https://www.trailtimes.ca/sports/fruitvale-product-hits-it-out-of-the-park-in-swedish-baseball-league-5079745

https://www.rosslandnews.com/sports/fruitvale-product-launches-kariskoga-bats-to-playoff-berth-4981472

https://nwacsports.com/general/2019-20/releases/20200616mwwq8r

https://www.therooseveltreview.com/baseball-drops-two-at-uafs/

https://twitter.com/ENMUBaseball/status/1430724950390829056?cxt=HHwWgMCr9eKw-tonAAAA

https://www.sudouest.fr/sport/autre-sport/baseball-division-1-kian-johnston-espere-mener-la-rochelle-aux-playoffs-21179855.php

 

Hitting Video

 

 

 

Playing Experience

YEARSORGANIZATIONLEAGUE/DIVISIONDETAILS
2019 Palm Springs Colonials Power Summer Collegiate League Split time CF/LF. 2-hole/ 5-hole hitter (2nd Team PSCL All Star).
2018-20 Douglas College Northwest Athletic Conference (Juco) Team leader and middle of lineup hitter, starting 1B/corner outfield 2020.
2021-22 Eastern New Mexico University NCAA Division II Started off 2021 season with an injury but came back and started 16 games out of the 27 games that I was healthy.
2021-22 San Francisco Seals Independent summer collegiate Middle of the lineup hitter 2021/2022, team captain in 2022, missed a lot of games in 2022 due to concussion/covid, saw 8 innings on the mound (1.75 ERA).
2023 Karlskoga Bats Sweden Elitserien Divison I 2 hole/3 hole hitter CF/RF/CIF
2023 BBJO GlobeTrotters Prague Baseball Week RF/LF
2024 La Rochelle Boucaniers French Division 1 4 Hole Hitter 1B/LF

Coaching Experience

YEARROLEORGANIZATIONLEAGUE/DIVISIONDETAILS
2019 Coach/Instructor Baseball BC Youth Youth spring break camps. Mentored kids and worked on hitting, throwing, base running, and fielding
2019 Coach/Instructor Coquitlam Little League Youth Fall/Winter practice- Worked with kids ages 7-16 weekly on hitting, throwing and fielding.
2018-20 Coach/Instructor Whalley Little League Youth Winter practice - Worked with kids ages 7-16 weekly throughout the winter on hitting, throwing and fielding.
2021-22 Coach/Instructor San Francisco Seals Youth Camps Youth Camp leader, worked with kids ages 7-13.
2023 Coach/Instructor Karlskoga Bats Youth Helped coach practices U15/U12. Coached 2 summer camps. Went and taught baseball in 32 school PE classes.

Stats

Pro/Overseas Batting

Years Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
2023 Karlskoga Bats 24 92 28 36 6 0 9 24 14 9 6 0 .396 .509 .758
2023 Karlskoga Playoffs 2 6 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .429 .333
2023 BBJO GlobeTrotters 3 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 .400 .500 .400
2024 La Rochelle Boucaniers 16 56 10 20 3 2 0 9 10 9 1 1 .357 .479 .482

College/Amateur Batting

Years Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
2019 Palm Springs Colonials 17 34 5 12 2 1 0 7 5 9 0 0 .353 .425 .471
2020 Douglas College 2 5 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 .600 .667 .600
2021 Eastern New Mexico 17 54 7 10 1 0 1 4 7 21 0 0 .185 .274 .259
2021 San Francisco Seals 30 98 14 29 5 1 2 30 16 20 0 0 .296 .391 .429
2021 Fall Eastern New Mexico n/a 34 n/a 12 2 0 0 n/a 11 9 2 1 .353 .543 .412
2022 San Francisco Seals 18 47 7 12 4 0 0 13 6 8 2 0 .255 .352 .340

College/Amateur Pitching

Year Team ERA GS CG IP H SO BB HBP R ER Wins Losses SV WHIP
2021 San Francisco Seals 0.00 0 0 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
2022 San Francisco Seals 1.75 1 0 8.0 10 3 3 1 7 2 1 1 0 1.625

Video Highlights

Testimonials

These Testimonials Have Been Verified

Petter Lundberg

Karlskoga Bats

I recruited Kian to play for the Karlskoga Bats during the 2023 season. It turned out really good. Kian checks if not all, most of the boxes you are looking for in an import. He is a good player, and he leads by example by working hard every single game and every practice. In 2023 he batted .388 including playoffs with 6 doubles 9 homeruns (led leauge and new club record) and had 25 RBI's in 24 games. He runs very well for his size and is a very capable outfielder and 1st baseman. He also played some 3rd base and did well. He showed clutch hitting by leading the team to it's first play-off spot since 2013 by hitting back-to-back walk offs during the last two games of the regular season (walk-off home run and a walk-off walk). Off the field Kian is self-going and reliable and well liked by his team mates. He was very helpful spending a lot of hours in recruiting new kids to our youth program by visiting schools and running two baseball summer camps.

Abel Alcantar

GM San Francisco Seals/ Former MLB scout

I coached Kian the last 2 summers and he is a great person on and off the field. Kian was coachable and carried himself in a professional manner. Kian lived with me as I host some players each summer. Kian cleans up after himself and was always helping out more than his share with our summer kids camps. Plus defender at First base where he played primarily for us the last 2 summers. Saved a lot of infielders and runs with his lanky frame as well from picked balls. He also played corner outfield and pitched occasionally and did very well in the relief outings. Kian is dedicated to making himself better and really bought into my advice of staying in his legs and keeping his swing compact and the results showed. Kian has pro style frame (big and lean) and is far yet from playing his best baseball. Sky’s the limit for Kian.

MacGregor Sharpe

Former Teammate

I had the pleasure of playing with Kian for two years at Douglas College (Junior College). Kian Is the epitome of a lead by example guy. He keeps his head down and works extremely hard every single time he steps on to the diamond, or in any facility. He is also not afraid to speak up in front of the team when it really matters and when he talks everybody listens because of how much his teammates respect his work ethic and character.

Additional Info

Playing preferences: Europe Semi-pro (ie. Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, France etc.), Europe Pro (Italy, The Netherlands), Australia Semi-pro (State Leagues), Australia Pro (Australian Baseball League), New Zealand Semi-pro, South Africa Semi-pro, Asia Pro (Japan, Korea, Taiwan)

 

Living preferences: Private living arrangement (apartment to self), Shared living arrangement, own bedroom, Shared living arrangement, shared bedroom

 

Return home: I can stay as long as it takes to complete a season

 

Prior engagements: No

 

Recent injuries/illnesses: No

 

Traveling with a companion: No

 

Educational background: Sport Science Diploma (Douglas College);  Bachelor of Science in Health And Physical Education (Eastern New Mexico University)