LSU’s College World Series dampens bright season
June 25, 2013
2 and barbecue: LSU out of CWS
June 25, 2013
Houma-native Justin Williams’ dream has officially come true.
He’s now a professional baseball player.
The Terrebonne High School standout started his pro career this week when he inked a contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The D-Backs chose Williams in the second round of the MLB Draft earlier in June.
By being the No. 52 pick in the draft, Williams was slotted to receive $1,049,200 in the baseball league’s payment slotting system.
Through negotiation, Williams was able to net approximately $1,050,000 in a signing bonus, according to a report by Baseball America that was published last Wednesday.
He chose the D-Backs over a collegiate career at LSU. Williams said he believes his move is the correct one.
“It feels great to be a part of this organization,” Williams said in a text message this week. “I think I made the right decision on becoming a D-Back.”
For Williams, signing with Arizona puts his baseball career on the fast track.
If he would have chosen the collegiate ranks, Williams would have been able to enjoy his summer in Louisiana before enrolling in Baton Rouge this fall.
But now that he has signed, Williams has already flown to Arizona and has joined the AZL D-Backs – Arizona’s rookie ball team.
Williams made his professional debut last Friday in a 6-4 loss to the Cubs’ rookie ball squad.
But even in defeat, Williams made his mark on the game, going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
He said playing his first game in the pro ranks was a humbling experience.
“It feels great,” he said via text message following Friday night’s game. “I ended up here with a great group of guys.”
Williams also shared some insight on how he felt when he roped his first professional hit – a first-inning line drive into centerfield that nearly netted an RBI.
Teammate Jamie Westbrook was on second base during the play and came close to scoring, but was gunned down at home plate by Cubs centerfielder Jeffrey Baez.
Williams hit cleanup for the D-Backs in the game. He also laced a double into leftfield in his second at-bat. He later touched home plate off that hit when teammate George Roberts poked a triple into center field.
“I was ecstatic when I got my first hit,” Williams said following the game. “It feels good to have that under my belt. Now my next objective is making it to the big leagues.”
Williams’ ascent to the top of many MLB Draft boards after a dominant prep baseball career throughout the Tri-parish area.
The 6-foot, 2-inch, 215-pound powerful left-handed slugger burst onto the radar of major league clubs in the 2012 season as a junior when he obliterated prep pitching for Terrebonne to the tune of a .519 batting average and a .637 on base percentage with eight home runs.
Williams followed that up with a dominant summer playing club baseball that saw him win the home run derby at a pair of All-Star camps. That success pushed Williams to as high as the No. 3 ranked prep baseball player in America on some listings in the fall of 2012 – a rise that had some hinting that Williams could be a top 10 pick in the entire MLB Draft.
But he slid down the charts a little and fell into his second round position after a somewhat disappointing senior season that saw Williams hit just .333 with four home runs.
Williams used a wooden bat throughout the duration of his senior year with the Tigers.
It’s fitting.
Now that he has entered the professional ranks, the wooden stick is the only bat he will be swinging for the remainder of his baseball career.
