OKLAHOMA CITY — In the span of about 12 hours, Mia Williams and Gerry Glasco each got choked up talking about one another.
First it was Williams, whose walk-off home run in the first game of the Women’s College World Series semifinals kept the Texas Tech softball team alive before finishing the job in the second game against Alabama. Williams, who has set just about every single-season hitting record for Texas Tech this season, was asked about her decision to transfer from Florida to Texas Tech, especially now with the national championship series in the Red Raiders’ sights.
“I think it’s one of the best decisions I ever made,” Williams said. “This is probably the best coach I’ve ever played for. He just believes in me so much, and it makes me emotional talking about it because just having that feeling of something believing in you is just one of the best things ever, and I love him.”
The next day, as the Red Raiders got ready for the national championship series rematch with Texas, Glasco was asked first about how he integrates transfers into his team. The key, Glasco says, is every player is like a snowflake, no two ever alike. He can treat NiJaree Canady and Victoria Valdez a certain way, but players like Williams and Jasmyn Burns need something else.
To Glasco’s mind, Williams needed understanding, patience and a gentle reminder that he cares.
“It’s been slow and slow to develop,” Glasco said, “but we’re really in a good place finally. Her enormous talent is what’s allowed her to be successful, and then her mental game where she’s finally really comfortable mentally, I think, is what’s allowed her to be successful in big moments and be consistent.”
About two-thirds of the way through the season, Glasco recalled, he had a conversation with Williams’ travel ball coach, who said, “Mia doesn’t think you like her.” Glasco was flabbergasted at the suggestion, especially since Williams was already on her way to setting Texas Tech records for home runs (26 entering the championship series), RBIs (85), runs scored (92), doubles (24) and total bases (193).
The next game, Glasco showed her how much he likes her, putting her in the leadoff spot of the batting order for the first time in her life.
“I did that because I thought, if I put her in leadoff, she’s going to know I really like her,” Glasco said. “I didn’t want to pull her in my office and say, he, I like you. I wanted to be real. And that worked.”
Williams has had great softball ability from a young age, considered one of the top prospects in the country well before she reached high school. She was named an NFCA second-team All-American as a sophomore at Florida and earned the distinction again this year with the Red Raiders.
It wasn’t the easiest process for the player and coach to come together, but the results speak for themselves.
“Mia Williams is a natural talent,” Glasco said, “but then you have to be comfortable, and you have to feel good to play good. I think we finally got to a place where she trusts me and I trust her, and we’re just in a really good place on the field.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Mia Williams became Texas Tech softball’s greatest hitter ever in one year
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
