Billy Williams named MVP at wood tourney

GALVESTON — Having already hit three home runs in his first three plate appearances at the World Wood Baseball Association’s 16-and-under National Championship tournament in Marietta, Ga., Billy “Nick” Williams asked some of his teammates a question in the dugout.

“What do you think the odds are of me hitting another one?” the Ball High two-sport star asked. “We figured the odds weren’t very good, so I kind of wanted to sit out the rest of the game and finish 3-for-3 with three home runs.”

In 2008, a bleacherreport.com study found the odds of a major league baseball player hitting four consecutive home runs in a single game was 0.00000791 percent.

Williams defied the odds, blasting a change-up over the right field fence in his next at-bat to finish 4-for-4 with four homers and seven RBIs.

Williams went on to go 12-for-26 with six home runs and 12 RBIs in the eight games in the wood-bat tournament.

The Houston Banditos Black placed third in the 196-team event, and Williams was named the MVP.

“It’s been really hard to believe,” Williams said, holding his glass MVP trophy. “There were a ton of great players on my team and in the tournament. To win MVP is pretty special.”

Several current major league stars like Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder have participated in Perfect Game USA’s WWBA tournaments in the past, so scouts use it as a good showcase for a player’s talent.

Williams said he and his dad’s phones have been ringing nonstop since the four-home run performance, which had scouts drooling at the rising junior’s potential.

Some scouts were comparing his skills to a young Daryl Strawberry. Banditos Black coach Hondo Medellin said Williams’ swing reminds him of Ken Griffey Jr.

“I have been lucky enough to coach a lot of great players in my career,” the former Ball High star and current Galveston College assistant coach said. “Billy can be better than all of them. I don’t want to jinx him, but he is an incredible baseball player.”

Williams started as a sophomore for Ball High this past season. He finished the season hitting .284 with five home runs and 15 RBIs.

Williams started off the season hot but struggled at times in district play because teams would throw him only off-speed or breaking pitches.

In Williams’ breakout game, all four of his home runs were on off-speed pitches. The first three were on curveballs.

Needless to say, he has adjusted.

“Playing last year helped me be ready to hit a curve more,” Williams said. “That was pretty much all anyone threw me in district. I had to learn how to sit back and not be so anxious.”

Added Medellin: “He was geared in. It didn’t matter what pitch was thrown to him, he was hitting it out of the park. I had never seen anything like it, and a lot of scouts were saying the same thing.”

With two years of high school and summer ball still ahead of him, it is suddenly looks realistic that Williams could be a high draft pick in 2012.

“My No. 1 goal now is to be a first-round pick,” Williams said. “That’s what I’m aiming for.”

Only six players in MLB history have hit four consecutive home runs in one game, the last being Toronto’s Carlos Delgado in 2003.

The odds are Williams never will accomplish that feat again in his career. He won’t need to, though, to make his way to the big leagues some day.

“In my heart, I feel like he will be playing in the big leagues someday,” Medellin said. “If he stays humble and keeps working, I really think he’s going to be a high draft pick.”