Douglas County baseball’s Case Williams excited to join Rockies organization
Case Williams knows he looks good playing baseball in a purple uniform. The Douglas County standout as become one of the premiere pitchers in the state during his time in high school and the big league club about 31 miles up the road from Douglas County High School took notice.
Williams was taken by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft. With this year’s draft shortened to five rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams’ selection felt like major validation that what he had done up to that moment had paid off and he was thankful that the team he cheered for as a kid took notice of his abilities.
“(It’s great) knowing that what I’ve been doing these past few years and months has paid off,” Williams said. “I didn’t even get to throw a pitch this season and this was still able to happen and this opportunity is still around. It’s really exciting.”
Initially committed to play baseball at Santa Clara, his selection in the fourth round has put a major decision in front of him. While admits it’s a life-changing decision to make, less than 24 hours after being taken he doesn’t see it as a difficult choice.
“I don’t think it’s too tough,” he said. “I’ll probably end up signing. I still have to talk some things over with family and figure it out.”
In the meantime he’s continuing to keep his arm in shape by working out and throwing when he can. His club team made its way to Wyoming last weekend, but with the draft coming up he wasn’t able to play.
Even just being around the game, he felt a deep appreciation that his talents are going to allow him to play the sport he loves at the professional level.
“It made me realize how much I love baseball and truly like being there,” Williams said. “When I’m playing it puts me in a good mood for the rest of the week and I can’t wait to get back out there.”
Williams went 8-1 in nine starts as a junior for the Huskies in 2019. He surrendered just 13 earned runs and struck out 79 batters while walking just 23.
He is the first Colorado player to be drafted out of high school since 2018 and the first Douglas County played to be drafted since 2006. He joins Kyle Freeland as a notable Colorado high school standout that has been taken by the Rockies. Freeland was a first-round pick in 2014.
Last fall Williams played for the Rockies scout team and thinks that the experience gave the organization an idea of what kind of player he was and they thought highly enough to pull the trigger given the opportunity.
“It started then and they had seen me before that,” Williams said. “I thought the Rockies would be it. I’ve been a fan my whole life and I live here and it’s my hometown.”
The next step for Williams to wait for the team to provide a schedule so that he can begin to integrate himself into the franchise.
Until that happens, much like everything currently, he’ll remain in a holding pattern.
“I’m just living (in the moment) right now and getting through the next couple of days and figuring everything out,” he said.
The one thing he doesn’t have to figure out is how he’ll eventually look in purple. He’s donned the color for three full seasons and became one of the state’s best players while doing so.
