Arizona center fielder Donta’ Williams makes diving catches so often, and with such apparent ease, that it’s almost surprising when he doesn’t make the play.
Williams authored two such web gems during the Wildcats’ four games in Los Angeles this past weekend. The first has to rank near the top of his greatest-hits list.
In Game 1 of Arizona’s series at UCLA, the Bruins’ Noah Cardenas smashed a Chase Silseth pitch to deep left-center at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Williams, positioned closer to right-center, raced back for the ball.
At the last moment, he lunged and leaped, extending his right arm. Williams crashed onto the warning track, some 390 feet from the plate, and rolled into the outfield wall. He snatched the ball and held it up to confirm the out.
UA coach Jay Johnson’s summation of the play encapsulates what he and the Wildcats have come to expect when Williams gets a bead on a ball.
“That was a very nice play, an amazing play, and not one that I was really surprised with, to be honest with you,” said Johnson, whose 21st-ranked team hosts No. 13 Oregon Friday through Sunday at Hi Corbett Field. “But a great effort by him.”
No one can question Williams’ effort. The fourth-year junior plays center field with abandon. He never considers the possible injury consequences when hurling his body toward a descending baseball.
“When I’m out there on the field, I just give it my all,” Williams said. “I just try to make every play. When I see a dive situation, I don’t think about if I should dive, if I don’t dive or if I’m going to hurt myself. I’m just kind of laying it all on the line.
“Every player in the outfield, every player in the infield, they give you whatever they have. So that’s the last thing on my mind when I’m trying to make a play for our team.”
Williams’ catch against UCLA kept the game scoreless. Arizona eventually lost 3-2 and dropped two of three games in the series.
Williams did it again Monday against Loyola Marymount. The Wildcats held a 1-0 lead with two outs and a runner on third in the third inning. Williams robbed Matthew Piotrowski of a hit and an RBI by laying out to snag a sinking line drive. Arizona went on to win 18-2, but who knows how the game might have evolved if Williams didn’t make that play?
“He’s a great center fielder and has really good instincts,” Johnson said. “A lot goes into that. Did we execute the pitch where it was meant to be? Are they throwing the ball where we’re playing?
“It’s different playing in our park versus other parks, because there’s so much ground to cover. That almost makes it even more unique and special how he usually plays defense.”
Williams had two near-misses earlier in the season, one against Southeastern Louisiana, the other against Air Force. Both times, the ball popped out of his glove. That happens sometimes upon impact when you play as hard as Williams does.
“I expect to make every play in the outfield,” he said. “That’s just my competitive nature. I feel like I let my team down, let my pitcher down, when I don’t make plays like that. I always beat myself up about the plays I haven’t made.”
Ups and downs
Arizona continues to search for consistency and depth in its pitching staff.
The Wildcats yielded just six runs through the first 19 innings against UCLA. The Bruins then scored 11 runs over the next six innings, notching at least one in each frame.
In all, four UA pitchers combined to yield 13 hits and seven walks in an 11-3 loss that gave UCLA the series win.
“I like the talent. I really do,” Johnson said. “If you’re just measuring arm strength and breaking balls, those guys have a chance to be successful. Some of them need more time and experience to improve. We certainly don’t want it to come at the expense of them scoring in six of the eight innings. But I feel like we’ll get it right.”
The staff rebounded with a strong effort against LMU. Five pitchers combined to surrender eight hits and three walks. Chandler Murphy and Trevor Long — a second-year freshman and true freshman, respectively — shut out the Lions over the first five innings. Long earned the win to improve to 2-0.
A meeting was held after Sunday’s game to lay out expectations for the staff, and Johnson viewed the LMU game as a way of “maybe setting some guys up for expanding roles here in the future.”
One pitcher to keep an eye on is fourth-year junior Jonathan Guardado, who made the travel squad and threw the final frame against the Lions. The appearance was Guardado’s first since May 13, 2019.
Key calls
A handful of pivotal calls didn’t go Arizona’s way against UCLA.
The first two were pitches thrown by closer Preston Price during the ninth inning of the opener. Both were called balls, and the at-bats ended in four-pitch walks. The second one drove in the winning run. (Price had walked four batters in 13 innings entering that frame.)
“I actually did go back and watch the video,” Johnson said. “There were two pitches that would have flipped the count.
“The umpire’s going to have a better view than us in the first-base dugout, but I thought a couple of those were pretty good.”
On Sunday, Johnson and the rest of the dugout thought Kyle Karros’ double down the third-base line should have been ruled a foul ball. The hit extended UCLA’s lead from 3-2 to 5-2. Johnson was upset that the umpires didn’t meet to discuss the play.
“I was more disappointed in (that),” he said. “They should have gotten together and asked for help.”
Inside pitch
- No UA hitter is hotter than freshman third baseman/DH Jacob Berry. The switch-hitter went 3 for 5 with two home runs and four RBIs vs. LMU. Berry has gone 9 for 20 in his past five games and leads UA in home runs (six), RBIs (26) and batting average (.400). He ranks in the top three in the Pac-12 in all three categories.
- Freshman catcher Daniel Susac matched Berry’s two home runs among a career-high four hits. Susac raised his average from .242 to .284.
- UCLA limited first baseman Branden Boissiere to one hit in 12 at-bats. He responded by going 2 for 5 against LMU with a home run and four RBIs. He’s batting .395 and leads the team with a .515 on-base percentage.
- Transfer Tanner O’Tremba made his first start as a Wildcat against LMU. The outfielder went 2 for 3 with a double, an RBI and four runs.
