Counting down Southwest Georgia’s Top 10 sports stories of 2014 — No. 8: Deerfield-Windsor’s Steven Williams makes USA Baseball National Team

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Herald’s sports staff has chosen Southwest Georgia’s Top 10 sports stories from 2014. Today marks the third of the 10 we’ve picked as having a significant influence as we count down to No. 1, which will appear in the Jan. 1 addition. Look for No. 7 in Friday’s Herald.

ALBANY — It was an unbelievable moment for Deerfield Windsor baseball standout Steven Williams when he heard his name called and realized that he would be playing baseball for the red, white and blue.

Williams was among the 20 players selected to be on the USA Baseball 15U National Team that competed in the WBSC 15U World Cup in Matzatlan, Mexico.

“My name was on the list and I thought it was fake,” Williams told the Herald. “I didn’t know what had just happened. I stood up but couldn’t feel my body. It was unreal and very humbling.”

An Albany Herald All-Area selection, Williams had competed with 39 other players in the 15U Team Trials and survived the final cut during a team meeting as head coach Chan Brown announced the final roster.

“I don’t think this is going to sink in for a while,” Williams said at the time.

The Deerfield Windsor standout was the only Georgia competitor to make the roster.

“This is one of the things I have wanted to do my whole life, and now that it’s happening, it’s unreal,” he said. “Anytime you have a chance to represent your country, you cant let it slip away.”

The 2014 WBSC 15U World Cup took place July 31-August 31 in Mazatlan. Before the tournament started, Williams had a chance to train at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz.

When Williams began training with the team, he began as a catcher. However, during the third of five exhibition games in Cary, N.C., Williams performed brilliantly as a pitcher. As a result, Williams made the roster as a catcher/pitcher and served as the closer for Team USA.

While it may have been a surprise to Williams, it was no surprise to Hayes Cook, who coached Williams on the Team Elite South traveling Team.

“More than anything this year, Steven has shown a lot of mental maturity,” Cook said. “He has had to step in the unknown and acclimate himself very quickly, and he has done very well with that. And that is what playing at that level is all about because you have to deal with a constantly changing roster and a constantly changing environment.”

The journey for Williams started when he went to Jupiter, Fla. for a USA Baseball Tryout. His performance in the tryout earned him an invitation to the Team Trials at the USAB National Training Complex.

While at the Team Trials, Williams played in five games that lasted up to 13 innings long. during the first two games, Williams didn’t do much. He went 0-for-2 with a walk in the first game and 0-for-1 with a walk in the second game, while scoring a run.

“I knew that if I didn’t pick it up that I wouldn’t make the team. I knew I had to turn it around,” Williams said.

The turning point came in the third exhibition game when he pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts. After the game, Williams was interviewed by the US Coaches.

“They asked if I thought I could handle being the closer for the team, and I said I could,”Williams said.

Then his bat woke up in the final two games of the Team Trials. Williams got hits in both games and scored twice in the final game. Later on, Williams, along with 39 of the other players, filed into a meeting room to await the arrival of Brown.

Steven’s mother, Melisa Williams, made the trip to North Carolina with her son and watched him go into the meeting room where the players would learn the results. Mrs. Williams went on to say that Steven texted her and told her that he made it but didn’t want to call her and talk about it because his roommate didn’t make it and was still very upset.

It was an emotional moment when Steven talked with his mother about making the team.

“It brought a few tears to her eyes,” Steven said. “I was happy. She was happy for me. I wouldn’t be here without them.” Williams said.