GREAT FALLS — Jaylyn Williams is from Greenville, Mississippi, and has loved baseball for as long as he can remember. His career has taken him from junior college, to Jackson State University, to Jacksonville State University, and to the Great Falls Voyagers with a lengthy career still ahead of him.
“I actually started around 4 years old,” said Williams. “It started with a rock and a stick. Everyday the rock went farther and farther and farther. Then I started busting windows out of the house and the very next year my mom signed me up for baseball.”
Before jointing the Voyagers, Williams played a season in the Czech Republic. It was unknown to him at the time but there were scouts watching him during that season and that is how he became connected with Voyagers manager Tommy Thompson, leading to his first year in the Electric City.
Since joining the team in the independent Pioneer League, Williams says the opportunity has “been blessing” and he has only made it this far “by the grace of God”.
“Just being down south, the mentality is different,” he said. “You want to get out, you want to make it out so every opportunity counts. It’s all about what you do with that opportunity and that’s what I’m doing. Make the most out of my opportunity and taking advantage.”
Williams is in the middle of his first season with the Voyagers but the love he receives makes him feel like he has been doing this for a very ling time. He is currently top-three on the team in batting average, second in homers, and first in RBIs. When it is time for him to move to the next step in his career he is hoping to make it to an affiliated club, then possible the majors and somewhere down the line he’d like to get into coaching.
