Diamond love: Braves standout got early beginning

April 20, 2017

There is no doubt where you will find Cody Williams in the spring: He has been playing baseball since he was old enough to swing a bat.

Williams began playing travel ball as an 8-year-old and is in his fourth season playing at Brownstown Central High School.

“Baseball has always been my sport,” Williams said. “It’s always something I’ve loved more than any other sport. I’ve always loved baseball and being around the sport.”

This season Williams will split his time between pitching and playing second base.

His started pitching in a few varsity games his sophomore year.

Last year, most of the games he played on the mound were in relief. This year the right-hander will be a starter.

“I throw three main pitches — a fastball, curveball and split-finger fastball,” Williams said. “The grip on the ball is different for my fastball and split-finger. My fingers are a lot wider, and my split-finger moves and acts like a knuckleball. It kind of dances around and falls off.”

Williams said his fastball is his No. 1 pitch, and said he can usually hit the catcher’s glove wherever he sets up.

He likes to pitch to opposing power hitters around the edges.

“I like being up there on the mound, and not so much being the center of attention but getting to focus and knowing that everything is waiting on you,” Williams said.

“I can control the game up there.

“Normally I don’t take anything off any of my pitches. I try to keep the same delivery so the batter can’t differentiate between pitches. The wind affects a lot of it because I know if the wind is at my back then I can rely on my fastball a little more to gain a few mph. If the wind is coming at me, throwing more off-speed stuff would definitely be to my advantage, so I like to throw a lot of off-speed.”

Williams said he also looks forward to playing in the infield, specifically second base.

At the plate, Williams enjoys batting in the lower third of the order and considers himself a contact hitter.

“I feel comfortable there,” Williams said of his position in the lineup. “Normally, I’m just a base hit hitter. I don’t hit very many home runs. I definitely think I’m going to see a lot of fastballs hitting at the bottom of the order.”

Williams said he thinks he has patience to let pitches outside the strike zone go by for balls.

“Being a pitcher myself kinds of helps me read the pitcher and figure out what he’s going to throw,” Williams said.

Wherever he is on the field, Williams always tries to keep cool.

“I think mental ability is huge in baseball,” Williams said. “It’s just as important as physical ability sometimes. You just have to know what’s going on and you have to know everything that could happen.”

The Braves got off to a good start by winning their first three games and their first three Mid-Southern Conference games.

Outside of the Braves’ season, Williams plays around the state.

“I played a pretty good amount of travel ball,” Williams said. “It was a great experience overall playing against better competition, and that prepared me a lot for high school teams.”

Williams said his career highlight was helping the Braves win the North Harrison Sectional last year.

The senior said he has enjoyed attending BCHS.

“I definitely like the size of the school,” Williams said. “It’s not a super huge school, and it’s small enough to where you almost know everybody. Its been a great time here. It’s been super fun to play here.”

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