Williams makes it look easy

Not much went wrong this spring for the Geneva baseball team.

The Vikings won 26 games, they finished second by a game to St. Charles East in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division — while winning the 3-game series against those Saints, St. Charles North and Batavia — and they earned the first No. 1 sectional seed in program history.

But whenever the Vikings did make a mistake or have a letdown, you could be sure senior captain Matt Williams would let them know.

Matt Brandys, a senior pitcher and outfielder for Geneva who has known Williams “since we were 3” knew what was coming.

“He’s a good kid, he means well, he’s a vocal leader and also shows it through his actions,” said Brandys adding one of the main reasons he transferred from Wheaton Academy was because of his friendship with Williams.

“He’s one of the guys if you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing he’ll call you out on it. I think that’s why a lot of kids respect him. A lot of kids might not like it as much but he’ll get in your face, he’ll do it in a way that is conducive (to getting his point across).”

Just last week Williams’ Geneva coach, another Matt — Hahn — had to come up with a way to describe Williams at Geneva’s awards banquet.

“My line for Matt, and this is no slight to anyone, is there’s nobody I’d want more with the bat in his hand or ball in his hand more than Matt,” Hahn said. “You want all your players to find a way to take it upon themselves that their success or failure all alone is going to have an outcome on the game. So many kids don’t have that today that I’m going to take it upon myself to win this game. Matt certainly had that along with a long list of things I’ll remember about him.”

Williams capped his three years of varsity baseball by leading the area with 10 home runs and 49 RBI while batting .392 with 9 doubles, 34 runs and 9 stolen bases. He also stepped into a new role as the team’s closer and saved 6 games.

He’s also the Captain of the 2012 Daily Herald Tri-Cities All-Area baseball team, an impressive achievement under any circumstance but more so considering Williams is headed to Northern Illinois next year on a football scholarship.

Williams has been balancing those sports for years. He was born in Naperville to Rob — a football player at North Central College — and Julie, and moved to Geneva in grade school. He has a younger sister who will be a freshman at Geneva next year and a younger brother entering fifth grade.

Williams said he first learned to love baseball watching his dad play fastpitch softball. He started travel baseball for Geneva in fifth grade and kept at it even while football became his future college sport.

“It’s something you love to do so it doesn’t matter how much time you put in, it’s worth it,” Williams said. “Managing between football and baseball was a little difficult but it’s something I love.”

Hahn called up Williams to the varsity baseball team early during his sophomore season. Williams moved from catcher on the sophomore team to center field on varsity and gave the team a boost hitting .311 with 22 runs, 1 homer and 11 RBI in 29 games.

“It was a dream to be called up as sophomore. You have always worked hard playing with older people and playing with the best,” Williams said.

Williams upped his numbers as a junior to .348 with 12 homers, 28 RBI and 10 stolen bases. He also developed some arm problems as a starting pitcher which led to the decision to move into the closer role as a senior.

That decision turned out to work as well for the Geneva team as it did Williams’ arm.

“To see guys throw a little bit harder is almost deflating,” Hahn said. “A lot of times high school teams bring in a reliever that is not as good as the guy you just saw. What a weapon to have. He has that mentality that I have to get three outs before you get one run, you are not going to beat me. It was a natural fit for him.”

Williams certainly enjoyed pitching with the game on the line. He was never better than May 12 when he closed out both wins in a doubleheader sweep of St. Charles East that wound up keeping the Vikings in the UEC race until the final game of the season.

“I love having pressure on me,” Williams said. “We thought limiting my innings and still being effective with them would be most beneficial to me and my team.”

Hahn loved having Williams in center field almost as much as on the mound. With juniors on either side of him, that gave Williams another chance to be a leader.

“As soon as the ball was in the air you hear him yelling ‘back, in,’ he was almost another coach on the field,” Hahn said. “It’s hard to teach. He just had that natural instinct to do those things.

“His ability to do different things and make it look easy. You saw him go back on so many balls you thought would be a double and he would just coast and get there. He knew right away how fast he had to go.”

Even an upset loss to Bartlett in the first game of regionals didn’t diminish what Williams thought of his senior season.

“We had a great team this year, best record in school history, you can’t ask for anything better than that,” Williams said. “Sure our season ended a little sooner but our season wasn’t looked upon one game. We played really well. I couldn’t have been happier.”

Williams finished with a career average of .355, 117 hits, 22 doubles, 23 home runs and 88 RBI. When you consider those numbers with the 90 miles-per-hour fastball he fires, Williams certainly seems to have the tools to be a college baseball player.

Of course, Williams also has spent the past two years as Geneva’s quarterback and committed last spring to the NIU football program. That doesn’t mean a college baseball career doesn’t cross his mind, too.

“I think about it quite often,” Williams said. “I don’t regret my decision at all. I’m very excited to go to Northern but sometimes I wonder where I could have gone in baseball. I thought if football didn’t work out you always have baseball to fall back on. But I’m very happy with my decision.”

Williams leaves for Northern on June 16. He said he’s planning on majoring in international business and looking forward to the next challenge.

“It’s going to be a grind, back at the bottom of the totem pole and have to prove yourself to a whole new set of coaches,” Williams said. “I’m just going to work hard and wait for my opportunity.”

His former teammates and coaches at Geneva certainly will be watching intently.

“Matt will be a lifelong friend,” Brandys said. “I make fun of him all the time for going to Northern. He gets so much press and I ask him all the time, ‘Where are going to school next year Matt?’ and he says ‘very funny.’ It’s a running joke between us. He’s a great kid and I wish him the best.”

“He’s one of those guys you don’t replace,” Hahn said. “You might find a pitcher that has his success or a hitter that has his success but I think Matt Williams is a once-in-a-coaching-career type player. To have his athleticism, the competitiveness and the ability to hit and pitch the way he did, I could coach the next 25 years and not have another Matt Williams. As happy as we are to have had him it’s sad to see him go.”