SIDELINE SCENE: Warrior alum makes splash on big stage

I don’t even like the Yankees.

I grew up just outside of Chicago, and I’m a lifelong White Sox fan. So naturally, for most of my youth, I couldn’t stand the New York Yankees.

So, why was I — along with baseball people from around West Orange County — so dialed in to the Yankees’ three-game series this past weekend against the Baltimore Orioles? The starting center fielder for New York over the weekend was a West Orange High alum — the first former Warrior to take the field in a regular-season Major League Baseball game. 

Mason Williams, who had been playing for the Yankees’ Triple-A club after starting the season in Double-A, got the call up to the big leagues June 11 — nearly five years to the day after he was drafted out of high school in 2010. After traveling to meet with the club Thursday, Williams was in the starting lineup for New York Friday in Baltimore, thanks in part to the Yankees’ lingering issues with injuries.

Williams made his presence known almost immediately, sending the second pitch of his second at-bat nearly 10 rows deep into the right-field bleachers. 

Yep — the first hit for the first West Orange alum in the big leagues was a two-run homer.

The next day, although he struck out twice, Williams made an impressive catch as he went crashing into the wall, showing off fielding skills that helped make him such well-regarded prospect in the Yankees’ farm system.

Eloquence notwithstanding, it was a really cool series of moments for the West Orange community.

Williams played his high-school ball at West Orange, where I graduated from in 2006, and was on the same team as my younger brother. Along with the likes of Nolan Fontana, Michael Albaladejo, Blake Dieterich and a slew of other talented players, those Warriors teams dominated their district and the Metro Conference in what was arguably the best four-year stretch in the program’s history.

Many of those guys went on to play big-time college baseball, and Fontana is still a well-regarded prospect in the Houston Astros’ minor-league system — but Williams will forever be the Warrior that broke through.

“It means a lot — it’s a huge accomplishment both for myself, as a coach, and the program,” said Jesse Marlo, the head coach at West Orange whose career leading the Warriors started around the time that group of players arrived on campus.

Marlo said he usually catches up with Williams when he returns home to the area in the fall and trains at the field at West Orange High.

“For me, it’s the first player that I can say I really coached to make the big leagues, and he’s the first baseball player from West Orange (High) to make the big leagues,” Marlo said. “It’s pretty awesome. He was part of that group who really put West Orange on the map. He’s continuing to put the program on the map — even six years after he’s gone.”

Reports indicate that, although the Yankees are pleased with Williams’ performance so far this season, there is a good chance that when veteran center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury returns — which could be soon — he could be headed back down to the minors.

Nothing is set in stone, but even if that were to happen, it doesn’t negate the fact that a local kid suited up for arguably the most iconic franchise in American sports. 

It doesn’t offset the things Williams has done well all season — things that could lead to an extended stay with the big club in the near future. 

Williams’ debut is something that’s all the more impressive because, just a few years ago, the big leagues probably seemed a long way away for the former Warrior. In a “what have you done for me lately” environment, when Williams’ numbers dipped and weren’t living up to what the organization had in mind for him and he then got into some legal trouble for failing a field sobriety test during a traffic stop, it seemed the West Orange alum was gathering all the wrong momentum.

Through those times of tribulation, Williams grew as a person and a professional and has since regained his prized status within the organization — a great credit to him, his family and the people around him.

It’s hard to say what the future has in store — how long he might be up with the Yankees and, if he is sent back down, how long he might have to wait for his next call up. 

What I can say with confidence, though, is that when I got home on Friday night and watched MLB.com’s highlight of Williams’ home run, it was the only time in my life I’ve smiled while watching a Yankee round the bases.

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].