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Mariners’ pitching prospect Williamson hopes for better birthday in 2021

TRIMONT — Seattle Mariners’ left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Williamson never envisioned celebrating his 22nd birthday today without his family present in full force on their farm outside of Trimont.

The hard-throwing former Martin County West High School three-sport phenom was selected by Seattle with the 59th overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft last June on the heels of a stellar junior season at Division I baseball power Texas Christian University.

After compiling a 4-5 record, 4.19 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 77.1 innings of work for TCU, the Mariners opted to limit the wear and tear on his valuable throwing arm during a short summer stint with the Class A Everett AquaSox in Everett, Wash.

Williamson impressed the parent club’s coaching staff by recording 25 strikeouts and issuing a miniscule five walks in 15.1 innings pitched to complement a 2.35 ERA in 10 games, including nine starts on the mound.

Unfortunately, like the rest of the world, both Williamson’s career and personal life have been turned upside-down by the historic COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m living at my grandma’s place outside of Trimont now,” Williamson said in reference to Doris Marquardt, “and she’s living at my parents’ (Tod and Twyla Wiilliamson) house right up the driveway.”

Brandon Williamson fully understands the collateral damage that the novel coronavirus can cause, therefore, he’s had to keep his distance from two of the most important people in his life — his mother and grandmother.

“Most people in my age range don’t seem to be affected too badly by the virus, but it’s who you can give it to that’s potentially dangerous,” said Brandon.

According to Brandon, his mother Twyla Williamson fits into the World Health Organization’s high-risk group. Twyla has been in remission for about six months after her most recent of three bouts with cancer that started just shy of two years ago.

“I was playing for NIACC (North Iowa Area Community College) in a playoff game in Clinton, Iowa, in May of 2018, and she (Twyla) collapsed,” said Brandon. “They (medical staff) transported her to the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City. I grabbed my stuff, left the ballpark and that was my last game at NIACC before transferring to TCU.

“So, it’s just smart to not take a chance of giving anything to my mom or grandma, who’s also in the ‘at-risk group’ at (age) 88.”

While Brandon is only yards away from his two maternal relatives, he does not use Zoom or Skype to communicate with them, but rather utilizes an old-school method — an actual conversation on the phone.

“It’s nice to talk to them, but it’s a bit ironic. With my (baseball) career, I don’t get a lot of chances to make it back home,” said Brandon. “Now that I have the chance, I can’t have any (physical) contact with my family, but I have to remember that it’s a tough situation for the entire world.”

Martin County West High School, Brandon’s alma mater, has made his “shutdown” existence a lot more tolerable by allowing him to use their weight room.

“I take extreme precautions — I take a chemical shower when I’m done working out and then sanitize all of the equipment,” said Brandon. “If I didn’t have this opportunity, I’d have to curl water jugs or something homemade like that.

“The school’s been great and I can’t thank them enough for doing this for me.”

Now, all Brandon can do is continue to keep his arm strength by playing catch with his father Tod in a field near their houses and wait to see what will be Major League Baseball’s next move.

“The original plan, before the virus, was that I’d be assigned to Class A in Modesto, Calif., to start out with and hopefully, by the end of the season, I’d be in Class AA,” said Brandon, “but I’m sure the entire time frame will change due to the current shutdown.”

While baseball’s outlook this summer looks bleak at this moment in time, Brandon has found a positive.

“I guess it’s nice to sit at home and get paid to do nothing,” Brandon said in reference to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s announcement that minor leaguers will be paid $400 a week through May 31.

But in reality, Brandon would prefer to be winding up on the pitcher’s mound at the Mariners’ spring training complex in Arizona, like he was doing from Feb. 2 until the shutdown order was issued on that fateful Friday the 13th in March.

“They (coaches) brought us in and told us to social distance that day. Two hours later, they told us that we were all going home,” said Brandon. “Professional sports in general wouldn’t do that if it wasn’t a serious situation about the coronavirus.

“They (owners) stand to lose millions or maybe even billions by closing everything down. Everyone needs to keep social distancing, so that we can eventually get through this pandemic and get back to normal.”

Hopefully, Brandon’s 23rd birthday will be a healthier and happier time when he can celebrate with his family and friends, and be able to give appreciative hugs to those near and dear to him.

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