When you’re a college freshman, there are a lot of lessons to be learned. When you’re a freshman athlete in college, there are even more. Think about how many lessons are to be learned if you play two sports like Texas Longhorns football/baseball phenom Jonah Williams?
The early enrollee has worked his way into the starting line up of the No. 1 Texas Longhorns baseball team after only a couple of months. But that doesn’t mean the 17-year-old has everything figured out.
Friday night against the Florida Gators, Williams went viral for the wrong reasons. Down 8-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the left fielder came to the plate with one out and a runner on first base. What happened next was one of the mosts contentious, fiery walks in recent baseball history.
The sequence ended with words between Williams and the Florida pitcher, catcher and first baseman that needed intervention from first base coach Michael Cantu, the first base umpire Eddie Newsom and head coach Jim Schlossnagle.
“I was just trying to keep the umpires off of him, keep him in the game,” Schlossnagle said. Newsom separated the players as they exchanged words. Schlossnagle told Newsom that he would speak with his player. No players received an official warning.
“Jonah’s awesome, man. His energy and his competitiveness and his will to win is if I’m a Texas fan, which I am, I would want that,” Schlossnagle said. “He’s just got to understand that baseball’s a little different, and there’s unwritten rules in the way you play the game. He knows that. He’s just trying to win, he’s not doing anything to show anybody up. He really wants to win that bad. When I say win, it’s not just the game, it’s the pitch, it’s the at-bat, it’s the play.”
Certainly, the freshman’s behavior would be more celebrated if it was on the football field. Williams went 0-for-2 with that walk in Friday’s six-run loss.
But another lesson in life, and in sports is, tomorrow is a new day. And it certainly was for Williams.
On Saturday, tied 2-2 in the sixth inning with the bases loaded, Williams delivered. The defensive back drove a 92-mph fastball on a 1-1 count into the gap, clearing the bases and giving Texas its first lead of the series. Just to stay “on brand,” Williams celebrated enthusiastically at second base.
The Longhorns held onto the 5-2 lead and snapped their 4-game SEC losing streak.
It all shows the ups and downs of being a freshman, no matter how talented. The good news for Longhorns fans is Williams seems to learn from his missteps and uses them to improve. Through it all, the Galveston Ball product keeps his enthusiasm in tact.
Schlossnagle says Williams, who is hitting .344 on the season, just “wants to win so bad.”
“He brings a lot to our team that’s pretty refreshing,” Schlossnagle said after the game. “To have a guy that competitive. He’s just such a special human being. Obviously, he’s physically talented. But just having that belief. … It says a lot about who he is. And who his parents are.”
Texas hosts Florida for the third and final game of the series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT in Austin.