You could say Jake Williams is a gap hitter. But it doesn’t take a spray chart to figure that out.
No, the former Franklin Regional baseball standout made the most of a gap year — a year off between high school and college — to get his game right for the Division I level.
Now, the Yale senior is one of the top hitters in the Ivy League. He has zero regrets about taking a less-traveled path to college baseball.
Williams suffered an injury that cost him his junior season of high school baseball, so he took extra time to train and prepare for the next level.
“Taking a gap year afforded me the opportunity to play at Yale,” Williams said simply.
But Williams wants to be known for what he did at Yale, not just how he got there.
Through 25 games, the second baseman was tied for the team lead with 31 hits, he was second on the team with a .326 batting average and he had 19 RBIs and 19 runs for the Bulldogs (18-9, 6-3).
“My game has come a long way since the gap year,” he said. “College sports are a lot about development and constantly improving to help your team win. It’s very natural to see a big difference in a player from their freshman year to senior year. Maturity, experience and constantly trying to improve takes a player’s game a long way over their college experience.”
When Williams was a freshman in 2021, the NCAA season was canceled because of the covid pandemic. All Ivy League students must graduate in four years, so Williams knew he had to make a name for himself in the traditional college window.
Although, he took the fall semester off last year and made this spring his final semester, affording him a senior season.
He said the consistency of his final college season is a product of several factors.
“We have a very good team this year, with a very experienced and selfless group of upperclassmen,” he said. “That makes the environment very positive and team oriented, which helps with individual performance. I’ve also been fortunate to play in a lot of games and become very comfortable with my identity as a player. Experience and just doing my part to help the team win has been the key.”
Williams had 127 career hits, 54 RBIs and 77 runs in 125 games.
“I’ve been effective at putting the ball in play and not striking out this season,” he said. “I’m not a big guy or traditional power hitter, so I’ve really worked on improving my bat-to-ball skills over the course of my college career. I’ve seen improvement each year in college, and particularly this year I’ve seen a big improvement which then helps with all other components of hitting.”
Like Williams said, college sports are a progression, and he is a shining example. His numbers have steadily improved.
Last season, he appeared in all 40 games and slashed .271/.386/.313 with 14 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and a team-best 28 walks.
He had a team-high 42 hits, seven doubles and 19 RBIs in 40 games as a sophomore. He started 18 games as a freshman and had 15 hits and 10 runs.
Yale was in third place in the Ivy League standings behind Penn (13-12, 7-2) and Columbia (13-14, 7-2).
He has a former high school teammate at Yale in Alex Frey.
Williams hasn’t made many post-college plans because the season could be far from finished.
“I’m not really sure yet what my goals are after the season yet,” he said. “Yale has been an amazing place, and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to play baseball here. I’m really focused on being present and enjoying my final days/games with all of my friends and teammates. We also have a great shot at making the Ivy League playoffs and making a run at a regional, so I’m very focused on that. I plan to worry about what comes next when my time here officially ends.”