[Sly Fox]

From the Roanoke fishwrap:

Abram Williams

* Numbers: 29 innings, 30 hits, 16 runs, 5 earned runs, 30 strikeouts, 5 walks, 1.55 ERA
* Notable: Has played a record five seasons for Post 68

Liberty still likes [Abram] Williams despite the coaching change. That's where he's enrolled. However, he never signed an NCAA letter of intent with the Flames. That leaves the door open a crack for others to continue to recruit him.

It seems counterintuitive that all the extra throws on his arm from football have helped him.

"That's the way it is, though," he said. "Throwing year-round has made my arm stronger. My arm would get tired throwing the football but never sore. In baseball, my arm is a little sore after I pitch, but that's it."

Click Here for Full Story

[Rocketfan]

From the Roanoke fishwrap:

Abram Williams

* Numbers: 29 innings, 30 hits, 16 runs, 5 earned runs, 30 strikeouts, 5 walks, 1.55 ERA
* Notable: Has played a record five seasons for Post 68

Liberty still likes [Abram] Williams despite the coaching change. That's where he's enrolled. However, he never signed an NCAA letter of intent with the Flames. That leaves the door open a crack for others to continue to recruit him.

It seems counterintuitive that all the extra throws on his arm from football have helped him.

"That's the way it is, though," he said. "Throwing year-round has made my arm stronger. My arm would get tired throwing the football but never sore. In baseball, my arm is a little sore after I pitch, but that's it."

Click Here for Full Story

16 runs but only 5 earned....thats a truckload of errors by his defense.....

[SuperJon]

No, it's a really nice scorekeeper who wants to make the kid look good.


Look at the amount of hits he gave up. He had to have given up more than 5 earned runs.

[Hold My Own]

No, it's a really nice scorekeeper who wants to make the kid look good.


Look at the amount of hits he gave up. He had to have given up more than 5 earned runs.

Now thats some good info right there SJ...good point!

[SuperJon]

He gave up more hits than innings pitched. Also, if this is Legion ball we're talking about, no one has an ERA that much. The pitching in Legion ball is worn out more than in any other league.

The only way this kid had that ERA was if he always got two outs, the team made an error, and then he gave up hits.

[D.Freeman]

Hello everyone, I am a newby to the message board although I've visted many times. My name is Darden Freeman. I am the coach at Radford High School. The pitcher in question is Abram Williams. I coached Abram for the past 4 years. First, Abram is a top notch kid. He will fit in well with the strong Christian beliefs of Liberty. 2nd, Abram is also a pretty darn good pitcher. He recieved offers from Liberty, VMI, Radford and an invited walkon offer from VT. I can't speak for the numbers posted here earlier (they are indeed American Legion numbers) however he had a tremendous high school career. His senior year he had 68 2/3 IP, 9w 2l (one loss to Glenvar 5-4 and one to Chillhowie in regional playoffs), 107K's 12BB, and 1.03 ERA. I can vouch for those numbers. Abram had 3 1-hitters and combined with another pitcher for a no hitter. He was named Three River District Player of the Year, 1st team all-region, and 2nd team All-state. The Roanoke times also named him 1st team All-Timesdalnd. His fastball is 85-86, but he has a knee breaking curve ball that every DI coach who has seen him (Richmond, VCU, Tech, Radford, Liberty, VMI) all agree is a + curveball. The new staff at RU has made an offer as well. Coach Royer had offered Abram and he made verbal agreement, however, Royer never sent any papers as he thought he might be leaving. Royer had told us that Abram would be #5 onthe depth chart next year and would proabably be middle relief or a mid-week starter next year. He's the hardest worker I've ever seen and will only get better in college. He's super coachable and a quality kid on and off the ballfield. Hope this helps some.

[Hold My Own]

Thanks great to have you on here, I hope you can stick around...it'll be nice to get perspective outside of our bubble

[D.Freeman]

Thought you all might be interested in some other articles about Abram.

http://www.nrvsportsnow.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=45

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/highschoo ... seball.pdf

http://ourvalley.org/news.php?viewStory=479

http://www.nrvsportsnow.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=34

[Rocketfan]

Hello everyone, I am a newby to the message board although I've visted many times. My name is Darden Freeman. I am the coach at Radford High School. The pitcher in question is Abram Williams. I coached Abram for the past 4 years. First, Abram is a top notch kid. He will fit in well with the strong Christian beliefs of Liberty. 2nd, Abram is also a pretty darn good pitcher. He recieved offers from Liberty, VMI, Radford and an invited walkon offer from VT. I can't speak for the numbers posted here earlier (they are indeed American Legion numbers) however he had a tremendous high school career. His senior year he had 68 2/3 IP, 9w 2l (one loss to Glenvar 5-4 and one to Chillhowie in regional playoffs), 107K's 12BB, and 1.03 ERA. I can vouch for those numbers. Abram had 3 1-hitters and combined with another pitcher for a no hitter. He was named Three River District Player of the Year, 1st team all-region, and 2nd team All-state. The Roanoke times also named him 1st team All-Timesdalnd. His fastball is 85-86, but he has a knee breaking curve ball that every DI coach who has seen him (Richmond, VCU, Tech, Radford, Liberty, VMI) all agree is a + curveball. The new staff at RU has made an offer as well. Coach Royer had offered Abram and he made verbal agreement, however, Royer never sent any papers as he thought he might be leaving. Royer had told us that Abram would be #5 onthe depth chart next year and would proabably be middle relief or a mid-week starter next year. He's the hardest worker I've ever seen and will only get better in college. He's super coachable and a quality kid on and off the ballfield. Hope this helps some.

While certains stats impress certain people, im more blown away by a 107k to 12 walk ratio than i am that very good ERA. Its one thing when we dont' really know the competition or we haven't done the research to know....but when you see a ratio like that you know that kid at least has quality command of his stuff.

[olldflame]

30 strikeouts to 5 walks in Legion ball as well. That's very impressive control!

[Sly Fox]

Welcome to the board, Coach Freeman. And thanks for the background on how Abram wound up a Flame.

The story I linked above indicated he may still head elsewhere if the right opportunity arose. Is that a fair assessment as we move closer to classes opening in the fall?

[D.Freeman]

-I spoke with Abram this afternoon. He plyed in the VHSCA All-star game in Hampton this afternoon. He did not get to pitch. None of the single A pitchers that were there got to pitch. He did play second base though. BTW. Jeff Jefferson had a home run in the game!!! Abram indicated to me that he is coming to LU. There is a summer program that for athletes that begins on Sunday. He'll be on campus then and is already enrolled for classes in the fall. HOWEVER, he has not signed a letter of intent at this point and there is a darn good offer on the table from RU.

[Fumblerooskies]

Since the other coach brought it up...Jeff Jefferson is the real deal and will be a very good OF for LU.

[Eagle Ed]

Thanks, Coach for some real info ...

That was what we needed to hear.

[SuperJon]

Coach, I appreciate the information, but forgive me for still being a little skeptical. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm still skeptical.


I'm from NC, a state with a very high level of high school baseball. (Side note: you may even know my high school coach: Kirk Goodson from Grayson County. Him and his dad were the ones that had the 100+ game league winning streak.) Anyways, I've seen a lot of kids from 1A schools (A level in VA) put up amazing numbers in high school, striking out a ton, low ERA, etc. Some of them turned into good pitchers in college (Nich Conaway for Oklahoma, Tim Smith for Catawba, etc). There's one right now that just graduated that put up good numbers but I'm really skeptical about because, even though he had a great record, when he came up against elite 1A teams, he didn't do too great.

Don't get me wrong, this kid could be very good, and with him being one of your players, I'm sure you know him better than anyone. As an outsider with experience, I'm just a little skeptical. I have no doubt in my mind that he could've went to NC and been a solid to great DII pitcher for Catawba, Mt. Olive, Pfeiffer, L-R, etc, but an A-level high school player going to Division I baseball is always extremely hit or miss.

[Fumblerooskies]

That Verlander kid came from an Class A school in VA...I have a hunch he's going to be a good one.

[SuperJon]

I'm not saying that he CAN'T or WON'T be good. I'm just saying that I'm always skeptical, especially when I haven't seen him personally, as the case is here. I really hope the kid is great and can help us out a ton. I just have personal experience that shows that sometimes A-class pitchers have their numbers a little inflated, by no fault of their own.

[Eagle Ed]

Thanks again Coach for the good info. Not everybody here is so skeptical (lol) - you're going hear "expert's" opinions on any given board I guess. Regardless, we appreciate you being interested enough to speak up ... and if Abram checks out these boards - just remember, LU & Coach Toman are starting the climb upwards -- from a successful level to an even higher level... as our new coach is the real deal. He knows talent better than our board (lol) !!!

This is the place you want to be. RU is nice ... but its not LU!

[SuperJon]

I didn't claim to be an "expert." I can only speak from personal experience and from what I have seen with my own eyes. I could be wrong, I have been before. A player coming from a AAA school (3A-4A where I'm from) is much more tested than a kid from an A school.

[Eagle Ed]

"I could be wrong, I have been before."

[SuperJon]

I'm not above admitting it.

[D.Freeman]

Superjon, I completely understand your skepticism. I hope Abram will prove himself at the DI level. He's a GREAT kid and one that you all will want to root for. He can give up a bomb or K the side and you'd never know the difference by composure on the mound. I have confidence that he will succeed. Doubters fuel his fire, so being a "Flame" fits him to a T. - Bad pun...sorry. Abram has discovered the board and I'm sure will take a look at it later tonight when he gets home from Hampton.

So you played for Kirk Goodson!?! I took hitting lessons from his son Ed way back in the early 90's. Know the Goodson name well. That Grayson County bunch has been a thron in our side...we are in the same region. If you played for Kirk, you are a baseball guy. I agree NC baseball has a HIGH level of baseball...warmer weather helps a bunch. I hope you get to see him sooner rather than later. His FB won't blow you away...but his curve is pretty sick.

[SuperJon]

You mean you took hitting lessons from his dad, Ed. Ed's the one that played for the Giants, Dodgers, and Braves. If that man tells me anything, I take it to heart.

I only played my freshman year of high school. I wasn't a good player, at all. I always wanted to coach. My sophomore and junior year I worked with our JV coach. My senior year and freshman year in college I worked with Coach Goodson. My freshman year I had an internship where I was at practice everyday, etc. The past two years since I've been here I go back and help out with anything I can and they've been treating me like an assistant coach. A lot of the stuff I've learned have been from the Goodson's.

[SuperJon]

Oh yea, as for the fastball, I don't think speed is the most important thing. If you know the Goodsons, you know they teach the changeup like crazy. We had a kid who threw 78mph and a nasty changeup who's playing at Mt. Olive now.

[D.Freeman]

Sorry, you are right....I took lessons from Ed Goodson waaaaay back in 1990-91.