BY Spencer Hansen

Staff Reporter

Who is Brandon Williams you might ask? Quite possibly the newest “big man on campus” at Central.

Last week, Williams secured his name in Central athletic royalty by finishing off his junior season with a shutout win at the GNAC tournament and was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Year. Williams finished the year with the best ERA, 1.81, and lowest opponent batting average, .216 in the GNAC, as well as leading many other pitching categories.

Williams, or “B Dub” as he’s known by teammates, won a career high eight games this year and struck out 89 batters.

B Dub grew up playing baseball, starting with T-ball, but was much more into soccer as a young kid. Williams was brought up as an Oakland Athletics fan and mentioned his favorite player was Eric Chavez, who also manned the hot-corner for the A’s.

“I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite,” Williams said. “Actually I was a soccer player.”

As Brandon grew older, baseball became his sport. At around eight or nine years old it started to get more serious, and a few years later he found himself playing year-round on travel teams.  He stopped playing other sports so he could devote more time to baseball.

Williams, who dominated hitters this season, found his love for pitching at a young age.  He has pitched since he started playing baseball as a young boy.  Although he played other positions in the infield as a kid, he excelled at pitching.

In his teen years, Williams learned a pitch that is seldom taught to young pitchers: the screwball.  The screwball, thrown by a right-handed pitcher, will often tail left to right or even drop Williams’ does both. In his outing versus Western Oregon earlier in the season, he threw a complete game and struck out eight, six via the screwball.

“Not so many people see that [screwball],” said Williams.

A screwball can also look like a two-seam fastball, which also will tail or drop.  The screwball is also unique because it’s a pitch major league legends have thrown for the past century, but is rarely thrown by the pitchers of today.  Williams uses the screwball as an out-pitch to right-handed batters as they’ll tend to chase it in the dirt.

Brandon hangs his hat on the screwball, but he has a plethora of ways to send a hitter back to the dugout in utter awe.  He credits a lot of his success on the mound to his changeup, which he has developed since high school, and felt like it’s one of his best pitches.  Williams’ fastball has topped out at 88 mph, but he can’t throw a curveball because he pronated his arm too much.

Williams has excelled at pitching from a young age, but his most fond memory of baseball growing up was in high school, where he was a standout at Auburn Mountainview High School. He hit a walk-off homerun in the district playoffs to send the team to their first state tournament in school history.  His senior year, he was named to the first-team in the South Puget Sound League, as third basemen.

Williams continued his baseball career at Washington State University. Although a division one program, he found it wasn’t the right place for him anymore. He transferred to Central before his junior year and has found his niche.

“This is the first team I have felt really comfortable around,” said Williams. “I like this school a lot.”

Not only does Brandon shine on the diamond, he also values the classroom as well.  Williams mentioned that many of the mental skills and mindsets transfer from the baseball field to the classroom and to life in general, such as dedication.

“I always make sure my school is on top of its game,” said Williams.

Williams is a construction management major and will return as the anchor of a young pitching staff in 2015.

The Yakima Valley Pippins, a new collegiate summer team, is where Williams will call home this summer.  The Pippins compete in the West Coast League which attracts high-profile baseball talent from across the nation, specifically the West coast.  The nation’s top college players compete against each other, as many of these players go on to sign professional contracts.

This summer will be Williams’ third summer in the WCL.  The past two years he has played for Klamath Falls and Medford. Williams also has aspirations of being taken in the MLB draft, which is a possibility and if the case, Williams will not be in Yakima if he signs a professional contract.

He also credits much of his success to his pitching coach from the Puget Sound Rocks, who taught him the screwball, as well as the entire Central coaching staff, including pitching coach Rob Hippi who has worked with him a lot.

When he’s not on the baseball field or in the classroom, he enjoys golf, bowling  and various outdoor activities.