Alika Williams

Alexander David Williams (born March 12, 1999) is an American professional baseball shortstop in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

Alika Williams
Williams at Arizona State in 2019
Tampa Bay Rays
Shortstop
Born: (1999-03-12) March 12, 1999
San Diego, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Career

Williams attended Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, California, where he played baseball.[1] As a sophomore, he hit .402 with 22 RBIs.[2] For his high school career, he had a .374 batting average.[3] He was selected by the New York Yankees in the 32nd round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft but did not sign and instead enrolled at Arizona State University to play college baseball.[4][5]

In 2018, as a freshman at Arizona State, Williams appeared in 55 games (making 54 starts), batting .280 with twenty RBIs.[6][7] That summer, he played in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Bourne Braves.[8][9] As a sophomore in 2019, he hit .333 with four home runs, 53 RBIs, and nine stolen bases over 57 games.[10][11] He played for the United States collegiate national baseball team that summer.[12][13] During his junior year in 2020, Williams batted .250 with one home run and eight RBIs over 17 games before the college baseball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]

Williams was selected 37th overall by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft.[15] He signed with the Rays on June 18 for $1.85 million.[16]

References
  1. "Athlete of the Week: Williams sets sights on college baseball, or perhaps the majors". Pomerado News. May 11, 2017.
  2. Monahan, Terry. "Baseball: RBHS, Poway among section's best". mcall.com.
  3. Goldstein, Lyle (April 30, 2018). "ASU Baseball: After slow start, Alika Williams has come into his own at the plate in his freshman year".
  4. "2017 Draft Picks: New York Yankees". ESPN.com. June 15, 2017.
  5. "Major League clubs draft half of ASU baseball's 2017 signing class". The Arizona State Press.
  6. "ASUDevils - ASU baseball season-ending stock report". arizonastate.rivals.com. June 7, 2018.
  7. "ASU baseball 2019 season preview". SunDevilSource.com.
  8. "Alika Williams, ASU baseball have major expectations for 2020 season". Arizona Sports. February 4, 2020.
  9. Timessports@capecodonline.com, Cape Cod. "Cape Cod Baseball League: Out at plate clinches win for Whitecaps over Braves". capecodtimes.com.
  10. "Get Access". azcentral.
  11. "High school baseball players more likely to feel draft's bite". San Diego Union-Tribune. May 14, 2020.
  12. "Ex-Bronco spends summer touring with USA Baseball". Pomerado News. August 7, 2019.
  13. "Forty-One USA Baseball Alumni Selected in the 2020 MLB Draft". USA Baseball. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  14. Henning, Lynn. "Tigers likely on the prowl to add college bat with second draft pick". Detroit News.
  15. "Rays select Alika Williams in competitive-balance round of MLB draft". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  16. https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2020/06/18/rays-sign-alika-williams-shortstop-from-arizona-state-taken-37th-in-draft/
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