(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Alika Williams is in the midst of his freshman season at Arizona State. Forgive him if he comes off as an upper classman.
He has strung together a stellar first-year campaign at the plate for the Maroon and Gold, with his batting average hovering at .270 or above since the first weekend of Pac-12 play in mid-March.
Getting to that point offensively, however, has not mirrored the same consistency, facing some highs and lows along the journey.
After opting to attend Arizona State, in spite of being selected in the 32nd round of the MLB Draft by the New York Yankees, Williams came to Tempe with buzz surrounding him. He finished high school ball at Rancho Bernardo in San Diego with a career .374 average, garnering the ranking of the No. 44 prospect in the state of California.
Recruiting coordinator Ben Greenspan fell in love with Williams’ offensive game while recruiting him.
“It was really his potential,” Greenspan said. “He had a really simple swing and had a knack for squaring the baseball up. Usually a guy that has a body like his with projection and athleticism, it’s easy to dream on.”
The 6-foot-2 first-year player is fairly soft-spoken. However, pure talent quickly did the talking, displaying his prodigious potential.
Shortly after arrival, Williams started to raise the eyebrows of the coaching staff, particularly throughout the fall and winter seasons with his maturity and accelerated learning curve at the plate.
“He has probably the best hands on the team,” ASU hitting coach Michael Earley said. “His hands work perfectly every time.”
Williams didn’t allow himself to drown in the limelight. Transitioning from high school to college ball is no walk in the park, and he was well aware.
“I didn’t worry about [the transition] but there were definitely adjustments that had to be made,” he said.
While he wasn’t incredibly apprehensive, the middle infielder entered school with a blueprint in terms of immediate adjustments.
“In high school, I had this big leg kick, and I was pretty long to the ball,” Williams said. “[Head] coach [Tracy] Smith made the adjustments with me and just shortened me up. He took away the big leg kick and lowered my hands a little, and I’m just short to the ball now.”
The early adjustments and hard work paid off. The Sun Devils’ Opening Day rolled around with Williams finding his name etched into the starting lineup of what is arguably college baseball’s most historic program.
“There were definitely nerves,” he admitted.
Through the weekend, the tension seemed to stick with the youngster. Williams struggled during the first series, going 0-for-7 with a lone walk in three matchups against the Miami (OH) Redhawks.
His coaches, however, were not overly concerned, knowing the highly coveted freshman would undoubtedly hit his full stride. It would just come with time. They simply saw a kid who was pressing at the plate in the early going.
“Him, like a lot of our guys, were just too amped up, trying to do too much, trying to have a good season in their first game,” Earley said.
Added Greenspan: “I think he was a little nervous, but we had seen him play in high school, in the fall and winter, and we knew how good he was going to be. He just had to get through those jitters a little bit.”
For similar reasons, along with a couple of other rookie mistakes on his part through the trio of games, including a baserunning miscue, Smith decided to put Williams on the shelf for the finale of the Miami (OH) series with the philosophy that some rest and relaxation would do him good.
“He’s a good player,” Smith reiterated in a press conference on Feb. 18 after the conclusion of the series. “But [the baserunning mistake] was the big indicator that everything was moving too quickly. He just needed to sit down, take a look, slow it down and take a deep breath.”
These learning lessons and early woes are by no means unconventional for any freshman, even for a player as talented as Williams. But there was no question that Williams was frustrated following his first few games, unable to produce a hit in four consecutive starts. No player is satisfied going hitless for a multiple game stretch.
What made Williams stand out and separate himself is the fact that he never let the slow offensive start carry over while many freshman can easily lose their confidence in that time span.
“I’ll tell you what, mentally he’s really good,” Earley said. “He doesn’t get visibly frustrated. Occasionally he can get down but to be honest he has a great attitude and that’s part of the reason why he battled out of [the slump].”
Added ASU quality control analyst Ty Neal: “This game will chew you up and spit you out. It’s a humbling game, especially if you’re a young position player facing the pitching that you’re going to see in the Pac-12. One hundred percent he was frustrated, but it never affected the way he came to the yard every day and it never affected him in practice. Guys that can handle struggling have a chance to stay in the lineup every day.”
Williams said early on he felt like he was trying to be someone he wasn’t in the batters box.
Nevertheless, the early nerves vanished, and a personal mental note has helped him continue to avoid it.
“I just remembered to tell myself ‘It’s the same game,’” Williams repeated numerous times.
The motto echoes shorter but similar to the famous line from Bull Durham: Baseball is a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.
Once the Redhawks left town Williams never turned back, similar to the Durham Bulls in the movie. He became a regular in the lineup after being benched, starting in all but the one game at second base.
On Feb. 24 during the Saturday afternoon showdown of a three-game sweepstakes with Saint Mary’s, Williams notched his first collegiate hit. In the bottom of the second inning, facing adept Gaels right-hander in Kevin Milam, he blistered a line drive into center to tie the game.
Not to be forgotten in the second-inning onslaught was @Alika_Williams gets his first career hit and RBI! The first of many for the youngster.
5-3, Devils, after 3 innings pic.twitter.com/YkYng412n5
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) February 24, 2018
The freshman cracked a wide smile while reminiscing on the memory.
“That was definitely a moment that I’ll remember,” a grinning Williams said. “First college hit, that’s going to stay with me for a while.”
The hit train didn’t stop there. When the ballclub began its series at Long Beach State, Williams proceeded to hit safely in 20 of the next 24 games, producing multi-hit outings in seven of them.
When Pac-12 play began, he totaled six hits in the first four conference games and has recorded a base hit in 17 of the 21 showdowns against league opponents.
Greenspan said the Long Beach State series was where he saw everything begin to click at the dish for Williams.
“He had a couple really good at-bats, squared some balls up,” Greenspan said. “That to me was where I felt like he turned the corner offensively.”
Williams acknowledged that no path to success is reached on one’s own, giving Earley high praise in helping him along his way. He said Earley is who he turned to most in terms of working through his early growing pains.
“Mike’s has been huge. Whether it’s throwing BP, doing flips, tee drills, you name it. He’s been awesome,” said Williams.
It was clear that Earley and Williams have developed a strong relationship between coach and player, with the Sun Devils hitting instructor seeming to run endless of positive remarks regarding his freshman second baseman.
“He’s just really smart at the plate,” Earley said. “Like many of our freshman, he’s just so mature beyond his years as a hitter. Once he got settled in and got comfortable he’s been special.”
Devils on the board!
@Alika_Williams stays hot with this RBI single and ASU cuts the deficit to 2-1 after 4! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/4aG0CPJU37
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) March 14, 2018
Baseball-wise, Williams said that trying not to tweak too much mechanically after a small sample size of games was the X-factor to his success.
“I just stayed with the same approach, just relaxed,” Williams said. “It was mainly just hitting the fastball and trying not to get behind in counts.”
Getting down in the count is not the worst scenario for Williams, however. And that’s an understatement.
Williams has only racked up 14 strikeouts this season, a team low for qualified hitters.
“He gets that two-strike pitch that’s a really good pitch or an inch or two off the plate, the good hitters, their hands are good enough to foul it off to live for another pitch and his hands allow him to do that,” Neal said.
But even more jaw-dropping than working counts and putting the ball in play, the freshman’s ability to tally hits with two strikes has left many in awe.
“It’s unbelievable,” Greenspan said. “He’s better with two strikes in terms of average on balls in play and average with two strikes than anybody on the team. He’s really bought into using the whole field with two strikes. He has more hits with two strikes than he does early in the count, which is not common.”
HERE COME THE DEVILS!
@Alika_Williams fouls off five pitches before sending this one into right field for an RBI single.
It's a one-run game on the @Pac12Network! pic.twitter.com/938geJnyk2
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) March 24, 2018
Williams has caught wind of this stat as well and even marvels at it himself.
“Just get me to two strikes and I’ll get a hit,” he said jokingly.
While having the knack for two-strike hitting is helpful, Williams looks to taking advantage early in counts as one of his largest rooms for improvement.
“I’m trying to get too big and I think that’s why I’m good with two strikes because I shorten up. I just need to have that mentality [through the whole count] of staying short to the ball.”
The staff at ASU relayed a similar message, while also conveying that the sky is the limit for him offensively once he starts to get stronger with time.
“You look at the strength from his elbows to his knees, and he’s got some real length and strength there in his forearms and hands. You can’t teach that stuff,” Neal said.
Added Greenspan: “I think he’s really going to hit. I told him when we recruited him that he reminded us of a shortstop that Arizona had a few years ago from Poway.”
The player Greenspan is referencing is Kevin Newman, who was selected 19th overall in 2015 by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Newman hit .283 in Triple-A last season at the age of 23.
“I think he’s going to be that same type of player,” Greenspan said. “I think he’s going to hit for a high average, and I think there’s power potential in there. I think that physical maturity will help him out as much as anything.”
Personal accolades can be a confidence booster, but the most significant goal Williams has moving forward revolves around much more than just himself.
“We’ve got to win,” Williams said. “Anything I can do to help this team win, whether that’s getting bunts down, executing hit-and-runs. There’s no better feeling than winning and there’s no worse feeling than losing.”
The Sun Devils are 18-25 and are coming off a series loss to Oregon State in Corvallis, moving back under .500 in conference play at 10-11.
While the squad’s postseason fate remains cloudy, with Williams leading ASU freshman in stolen bases, along with placing third among the newcomers in hits, batting average and total starts, one thing is certain: His name is brightly highlighted in the team’s future plans.
“He’s great,” Earley said. “He’s going to be a great hitter here for the next three years and it’s going to be fun to watch.”
