Williams’ grand cleanup
Published 5:29 pm Saturday, March 26, 2016
The hitter who bats fourth in the lineup in baseball is known as the cleanup hitter, because he is supposed to clean up the bases by bringing the preceding batters home.
Israel Lewis, who is currently 9 years old, has won two state championships in the pommel horse event and will be going to Maryland to compete in a regional-level competition in April. (Photo submitted by Linda Lewis)
Junior Mitchell Williams is the No. 4 hitter for the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy Saints, and for a recent cleanup job particularly well done, he is the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.
He helped the Saints stay undefeated and achieve a 12-0 victory over host Hampton Roads Academy on March 17 with three productive at-bats.
In his first plate appearance, he hit a ground ball to second base and was thrown out, but he scored his teammate, senior Dominick Claxton. In his second at-bat, he was hit by a pitch, moved around the bases and eventually scored.
In his third at-bat, the bases were loaded, and he hit a 375-foot grand-slam home run.
“I had a feeling it was going out, but I watched to make sure it went out,” Williams said. “I didn’t take anything for granted.”
NSA coach David Mitchell said that in that game, “He drove in five runs and scored twice. So when you do the math on that, he accounted for six of our 12 runs. That’s a phenomenal day.”
Williams said, “I thought I did pretty well. I’m just happy that my teammates were on in that game, getting on base.”
He was not too preoccupied with his big hit, because he had a bigger goal in mind.
“It was great to hit the grand slam, but overall, I just wanted to win the game,” he said, noting another win could help propel Nansemond-Suffolk to a higher state ranking.
Williams’ focus is consistent with what he aims to bring to the Saints.
“I feel like I bring the will to win,” he said. “I’m just a guy that wants to do anything for his teammates to win the game.”
When he was placed fourth in the lineup, “I knew my job was going to be to deliver the big hits and score the runs to help our team win,” he said.
And with a good team effort, the Saints have been doing nothing but winning this season. Though the victory over HRA improved Nansemond-Suffolk’s record to 4-0, the Saints are now 7-0.
On MaxPreps.com, which is a site that is part of CBS Sports Digital, the Saints are ranked No. 1 in Virginia and No. 162 in the nation. Both rankings include public and private school teams.
Williams said team chemistry “is really what’s keeping us going right now with our win streak.”
David Mitchell praised Williams for his leadership on the team, which has 10 seniors.
“He was chosen as one of our captains, so for a junior, I think that speaks a lot about him,” Mitchell said.
Williams has been on the NSA varsity team since his freshman year, but as early as his seventh-grade year, he had been hanging out and working out with the team in the offseason and the summer.
Coach Mitchell said that at this point, Williams is “almost like an assistant coach. He knows how practices run. He knows what we’re going to call in games. he understands our system and our philosophy.”
