Coach Jon Shehan put it best – Matthew Williams could have chosen the “five-star Michelin restaurant,” the University of Connecticut, an elite Division I program that showed interest in him out of high school. Instead, said Shehan, “he chose the local diner down the street – Millersville University – because he liked the food better.”
In an era when so many recruits chase status, the big Instagram announcement, the media-day photo shoots, Williams chose fit over flash, and he has been eating like a king at the local diner because of it.
The 6’5” power-hitting first baseman and pitcher has been an integral part of Millersville’s continued success since arriving on campus in 2023. And it was this past season, Williams’ true breakout year, that has MLB scouts paying close attention to the Lancaster County native.
He finished the 2025 campaign hitting .330/.436/.670 with 18 home runs, setting a new Millersville single-season record. His offensive surge helped lead the Marauders to a 44–10 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Atlantic Regional before they were eliminated by Seton Hill in three games. Even with Millersville’s postseason run cut short, Williams’ individual performance was impossible to overlook. His year earned him All-PSAC East and All-Atlantic Region First Team honors.
But Williams’ success is not a matter of luck or raw talent alone. It is the product of years spent fine-tuning his game. And no one knows that better than Shehan.
“Rain or shine, he’s in the cage,” said Shehan. “I’m telling you; he’s asking me to turn the lights on at night. Even when it’s cold, he’s getting his work in.”
Red Rose Country Roots
For some athletes, finding their sport is an adolescent game of trial and error. Not for Williams. It has always been baseball. He had brief stints with soccer early in his life, but the baseball diamond is where he always truly excelled. And it certainly did not hurt that Williams, who towers over most of his Millersville teammates today, always had the right measurements for the sport.
“I was a little bowling ball growing up,” said Williams. “Always the biggest guy in little league.”
And Williams dominated – at more than one position. At the age when most youth players drift toward either hitting or pitching, he simply refused to choose. He did both, and he did both well.
Williams wound up spending his travel ball years with the Keystone State Bombers, Pennsylvania’s premier travel baseball program. Based in Manheim, the Bombers have produced eight MLB Draft picks and signees since the program’s inception in 2016. And the most recent of the bunch, now a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, is someone Williams ran into during his time with the Bombers.
“It was a bunch of tryouts, pretty much everyone from the same team as the past year, so we kind of knew who all would be on the team,” said Williams. “We were around 14 at the time, throwing mid to upper eighties, which wasn’t terrible for that age. Then this big farm dude comes in, first time anyone has ever seen him there, and he’s sitting 89 to 92.”
The big farm dude was Boyertown High School’s Trey Yesavage, who became an overnight postseason hero for the Toronto Blue Jays in his rookie season. Yesavage went 3-1 over five postseason starts with a 3.26 ERA, and he set the record for most postseason strikeouts by a rookie with 39.
Those teenage years with the Bombers were also when Williams began to develop a relationship with Millersville’s Shehan.
“I’ve known him [Shehan] for a while,” said Williams. “Millersville practiced at the Bombers Facility, so anytime I’d be finishing up, they’d be coming in. John Seibert, who went to my high school, also went to Millersville, so he always talked to me about that. But in my gut, I kind of always just knew I was going to end up there.”
That prediction materialized for Williams in his junior year of high school, when he officially committed to Millersville University in May 2021.
“Recruiting is all about relationships,” said Shehan. “I give our staff a lot of props. We didn’t miss too many games that he played in during high school.”
With the weight of recruitment off his shoulders, Williams went on a tear his senior year. He finished the season hitting .430, drove in 41 runs, and mashed 10 home runs.
Williams led a Warwick team that made school history by bringing a state title back to Lititz. But the road to that moment was anything but smooth.
A nearly two-hour rain delay halted the game in the fourth inning, and Williams, still coming off a shoulder injury, was called on to pitch for the first time all season. It was hardly the scenario Warwick envisioned, yet the Warriors found a way, knocking off Liberty 6-4 to win the program’s first PIAA 6A state title.
Williams did not have time to bask in the glory of Warwick’s improbable run. Just 66 days later, he was expected at Millersville University for his first college semester. No problem.
Somewhere in the Loblolly Pines…
Matthew Williams needed just one at-bat to get adjusted to college baseball.
It was the top of the fifth inning in game one of a doubleheader, Millersville trailing by a run in the 2023 season opener against Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina. For Williams, it was just his second collegiate at-bat. He struck out swinging in the second inning, but this time he found himself in a favorable 3-1 count.
Moments earlier, Millersville catcher Cole Houser was caught trying to steal second, giving Barton its second out. On the very next pitch, Williams, a hard-hitting first baseman and pitcher, got a center-cut fastball, one he did not miss.
The ball screamed off his bat, looking more like a Titleist Pro V1 jumping off a driver than a baseball. Within seconds, it disappeared into the cluster of tall loblolly pines that frame the outfield of Barton’s Nixon Field. Judging by how hard it was hit, there’s no guarantee the ball even stayed in North Carolina.
Spectators in the stands, players and coaches in each dugout, even the folks in the press box believed they had just witnessed a majestic home run. All but one person shared that belief: the home plate umpire.
Just as Williams crossed first base, the umpire stood up with his arms in the air and then outstretched, signaling a foul ball on what looked to be a clear home run.
“The umpire actually came up to me after and said, ‘Hey man, that’s my fault, that was fair,’” said Williams.
Two pitches later, Williams ripped a line drive toward the right-field wall on what looked like a sure double. Except Barton’s right fielder, Carelle Gonzalez, now chasing after the ball, reached up with his left hand and snagged it with a diving grab.
Matthew Williams’ first collegiate home run would have to wait, just a few days.
Williams wound up playing in 53 games his freshman season, immediately making his impact on a stacked Millersville roster that featured some of the biggest names in the PSAC. He finished the season hitting .249/.336/.423 with 47 hits, including nine home runs. And just as he did in high school and with the Bombers, Williams took the mound for the Marauders, posting a 4.26 ERA over 6.1 innings.
The Marauders finished the 2023 season 46-10 overall, including one of the deepest postseason runs in program history. While they were unable to capture the PSAC Championship, they went on a tear in the NCAA Atlantic Regionals, taking down No. 28 Charleston 6-4 before defeating West Chester in two games. It did not stop there. Millersville swept No. 8 Seton Hill in the NCAA Super Regionals, securing their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016. With momentum on their side and the bats scorching hot, Millersville defeated the University of Indianapolis 6-5 in the first round.
Millersville’s run came to a heartbreaking end in the second round when they met west coast powerhouse CSU San Bernardino. Millersville rallied in the top of the ninth to build a 5-3 lead, needing just three outs. But San Bernardino scored three runs without a hit, delivering the final blow and advancing with a 6-5 victory.
Despite the crushing loss, 2023 was a success by all measures, especially for Williams. There was no pressure for him to come in and immediately lead. He was able to learn from experienced veterans such as Thomas Caufield, Bren Taylor, and Sam Morris.
While 2024 was not the most noteworthy season for Millersville, who finished 38-16, it was another year of development for a relatively young roster. For Williams, it was another steady step forward. He finished the season batting .339/.408/.575 and led the team in many offensive categories, including RBIs (43), home runs (8), doubles (17), and total bases (100). Williams recorded a hit in 15 of the team’s first 16 games and had multiple hits in 10 of those contests.
It looked as if it was all coming together for Williams, but no one could have predicted what he’d do next.
The Leap
In 2025, Williams delivered one of the greatest statistical seasons in Millersville baseball history. In 54 games, he hit .330/.436/.670, mashed 18 home runs, drove in 62 runs, and even swiped five bags. His 18 home runs set a new program single-season record, and his 35 career home runs already rank first in Millersville history with a full senior season still ahead of him. His slugging percentage jumped .95, his on-base percentage rose .28, and he was the only Marauder to post an OPS above 1.000, finishing at 1.106. He helped lead Millersville to a 44-10 overall record and a PSAC Championship before they were narrowly eliminated by Seton Hill in the NCAA Atlantic Regionals.
“I think it’s a combination of repetition and swing,” said Shehan regarding Williams’ 2025 season. “I think in his freshman and sophomore year he thinks, ‘Okay, this is really working, I’m doing really well,’ and he kind of backed [off] instead of checking the boxes: ‘Why is it working? What am I seeing that’s making me successful? What pitches am I swinging at in what counts? Why did that guy throw a slider in that count?’
Millersville skipper Jon Shehan looks on during PSAC Tournament action | Photo courtesy of Mark Palczewski/MU Athletics
“And he’s just put those things in the memory bank. You saw it all come together last season at once. He seems like he’s a pitch ahead of the pitcher. He’s always on time for fastballs in fastball counts. He will set guys up; it’s a high-level approach he’s learned. We’ve had some good hitters around, guys like Tommy Caufield, Bren Taylor, Jimmy Losh, guys that were around him as a freshman and sophomore. I think he’s learned a lot from those guys, and the approach is really, really good. It’s professional.”
Aside from the steadfast and dedicated approach Williams brings to the team daily, there is another attribute his teammates and coaches find equally important.
“Matthew is a guy that keeps things light,” said Shehan. “He’s busting chops at practice, not afraid to poke fun at the coaches, and it loosens the guys up. I really do believe that they play at a higher level in big games because of guys like Matthew.”
On Deck: 2026, MLB?
While Williams will look to replicate much of what he did in 2025, one aspect of his game is set to look different for the first time in his baseball career.
No pitching.
“We took the glove away and he’s not going to pitch this year,” said Shehan. “If he is going to get a chance to play professionally, it’s going to be offensively. We had a meeting earlier in the year, just kind of put our thoughts together, and he agreed that he could definitely help the team the most with the bat.”
Williams will now look to add his name to the select group of Millersville baseball players who have gone on to play professionally. The last Marauder to be drafted and reach the big leagues was Chaz McCormick, and before him it was Tim Mayza. And while Millersville has not produced an MLB Draft selection since Daniel Ross in 2019, the program has continued to develop professional-level talent. In 2025 alone, Amani Jones (ALPB), Connor Blantz (Frontier League), and Sam Morris (Frontier League) all signed with MLB-affiliate leagues. In 2023, Zack Tukis signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an undrafted free agent.
However, with the MLB Draft cut from 40 rounds to 20, the path has become more difficult for Division II athletes, even the elite ones.
“When you only have 20 rounds, if you’re going to pick a division II position player, you’ve got to be sure,” said Shehan. “And there’s also just a lot more analytics available at the Division I level that scouts and analytics teams can go into and predict player value. So, you end up seeing a guy in the SEC get picked in the 20th round who didn’t play a whole lot over the Division II All-American.”
Millersville’s pro day this year was also less attended due to the young makeup of the roster, but that did not stop Williams from impressing the evaluators who did make the trip.
“He had a really good day and there’s one or two teams that have showed interest,” said Shehan. “He is going to end up playing in the MLB Draft League this summer. Not sure which team yet, but we should find out soon.”
Regardless of which organization ultimately gives Williams his opportunity, they will be getting a dedicated, professional-minded player. More importantly, they will be getting a good person.
“Off the field, he’s just a lighthearted guy,” said Millersville pitcher and close friend of Williams, Alex Kuehn. “We get along so well because we don’t take anything too serious. He’s good at making any situation funny or optimistic, and I think that translates onto the field and helps him in those big moments.”
