With a 6-6 frame and a left arm that fires fastballs topping out at 96 mph, Brandon Williamson has long looked the part of the second-round draft pick and prospect ranked No. 8 in the Seattle Mariners organization. But appearances -- when it comes to one of the Arkansas Travelers' newest pitchers -- deceive.
That's because a glimpse of Williamson doesn't show the pitcher who bloomed late on the baseball field; the one who never played an inning of travel ball; the one who didn't have a single scholarship offer out of high school.
"People think I only went to TCU and I was some big name," Williamson said. "Or that I''ve always been a big prospect whose been pampered. But my path hasn't been like that at all."
From town ball to junior college in Iowa, Williamson's road to his Dickey-Stephens Park debut was different from many of the teammates he shared the field with Thursday night, when the Travs fell to the Frisco RoughRiders, 8-0.
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Williamson (0-2) allowed 6 runs on 9 hits over 4 innings in his third Class AA start before exiting with no outs in the fifth inning.
The Travelers recorded four hits in the defeat while J.P. Martinez (2 for 3, 3 walks, 2 RBI) led a Frisco eruption. Travs Manager Collin Cowgill earned the first ejection of his managerial career in the fifth.
Williamson's losing effort marked a rare blemish in a 2021 season that's seen him justify his place as the Mariners' No. 4 pitching prospect. Today, his trajectory points to a future in the major leagues -- a long way from 2016, when Williamson appeared more likely headed to dental school than a career on a pitcher's mound.
"If he makes the big leagues, which I think he has the chance to do, it'll be one of the most unique stories out there," Travis Hergert, Williamson's coach at North Iowa Area Community College, said.
Williamson grew up in Welcome, Minn., just north of the Minnesota/Iowa border. In the town of 686 people, Williamson grew up riding ATVs, hunting, fishing and stood out on every field or court he stepped on.
"Welcome to Welcome -- that's what our sign says," he explained.
The only baseball Williamson played away from Martin County West High School came with the Blue Earth Pirates, one of the 200-plus "town ball" teams across the state that feature players ranging from high school age into their 40s.
On the mound with the Pirates after his senior year, Williamson caught Hergert's attention. Still without an offer at the time, he instead planned to attend Mankato State University with an eye on the school's dental program.
"I had a friend call me about a 6-6 lefty," Hergert said. "I told him, 'I'll be there tonight.' "
With Hergert watching, Williamson tossed six perfect innings. NIACC's head coach had no scholarship to give, but he could offer a chance and Williamson took it, enrolling at the Mason City junior college that fall.
"You knew Brandon had raw ability," said T.J. Schmidtke, Williamson's high school coach. "He needed to go to college and capture that."
At NIACC, for the first time ever, Williamson -- who also played football and basketball in high school -- got the opportunity to channel his athleticism into one sport. He arrived looking nothing like a future Power 5 pitcher, his fastball topping out in low 80s, and attacked the objective of adding velocity, according to Hergert, like a professional.
"Obsessive is the word," Hergert said.
Williamson toiled on the mound and in the gym, and worked away from the field, too. Eating scrambled eggs and hash browns, he added 30 pounds. He also studied pitchers, picking up on the small things. Among them was former Oakland A's left-hander Barry Zito, who threw a legendary curve ball similar to the one Williamson features in his repertoire.
As he worked, Williamson's velocity crept into the upper 80s, then the lower 90s. He sharpened his command in the Northwoods League the summer after his freshman year, then turned heads at a showcase in Missouri that fall. At the end of his second year at NIACC, Williamson signed to play at TCU.
After injuries stunted his start with the Horned Frogs, Williamson struck out 89 hitters in 77 1/3 innings, good enough for the Mariners to select him with the 59th pick of the 2019 MLB Draft.
"Everything I did I just thought about how it affected baseball," Williamson said. "I worried about my body. I worried about how my arm would feel. I was thinking about how I could make myself better all the time. That was the difference."
That determination carried Williamson from Class A Everett -- where he fanned 59 batters in 31 innings -- to North Little Rock in late June, the latest stop on his unconventional journey, but most certainly not the last.