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All-Region Baseball Player of the Year

The Columbian
Published: June 18, 2010, 12:00am

Camas senior Taylor Williams said baseball is the love and passion of his young life.

During a remarkable 2010 campaign, Williams’ passion evolved into a perfect dream.

While the Papermakers finished second in the Class 3A state tournament, Williams put up numbers that will last. He finished the season hitting .395 with nine home runs and a school-record 34 RBI. In addition, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound pitcher/infielder struck out a school-record 75 batters, while finishing with a Camas career-record 172 Ks.

For his achievements, the Washington State-bound Williams was selected as The Columbian’s All-Region baseball player of the year.

What is your best memory from your time playing baseball for Camas? “I’d say probably getting second in state. Playing with all of the guys that I had played with since I was little. We’ve had so many memories together. And just being able to work our way up and make it all the way to the final four, and then play in the championship game at state is what will probably stay in my mind.”

How far did you and your team come since your freshman season? “We came a long way. … We had a really good freshman class, and I thought about the potential we had. I really thought we had the ability to do it, and everybody talked about how good we were going to be when were seniors. From the time when I was a sophomore, I just improved my pitching and all areas of the game.

“And as a team, we really improved. It’s been crazy. We were pretty good as sophomores, and we felt that we could have gone farther than we did. But we never really reached our full potential the last two years. We always knew that we had the potential and talent to do it. And just to be able to look back and see how much we’ve grown together, bonding wise and skill level, it’s crazy how much the team grew.”

What made the biggest difference for you as you evolved as a player? “I’d have to give a lot of credit to my summer coach (Mike Nadeau of the Federal Way Buzz). He really helped me learn a lot. … He’s been my coach the last three years, and I really learned a lot from him. I haven’t learned everything from him. But he’s been a big difference in my mindset as a baseball player, and he’s really helped me prepare the last three years.”

What type of impact has Camas coach Joe Hallead had on the team’s turnaround? “We really worked on the team-bonding side of things. He really worked with us on coming together as one and coming together as a team, which has been our team motto for the last three or four years — play as one, play for each other. He’s really worked hard on the team chemistry-side of things. He worked hard on pushing in game situations. … I think he runs really good game preparations, and he helped prepare us for some of those big games.”

How excited are you to play college ball for WSU? “I’m extremely excited. It’s been my dream and my goal ever since I was little. They’re one of the top teams in the Pac-10, which is one of the top conferences. I’ve worked hard for this and I’m extremely excited to get over to Pullman and start my career in the next level of baseball, and hopefully move on from there.”

On looking back at his baseball career: “I’m extremely happy. Ever since I was little, baseball has always been my love and my passion in life. In little league, I always dreamed of playing professional baseball or playing at the next level. I think if I looked back, I’d definitely be proud of what I achieved, and definitely happy with where I’ve gone.”

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