While Luke Williams is generating headlines currently with Franklin Regional baseball, his older brother, Jake Williams, has already carved a path for baseball success. After a strong career with the Panthers, Jake Williams is now nearing the end of a tremendous tenure on the diamond at Yale University. Williams is featured in this edition of the Westmoreland Alum Q&A.

Williams was a freshman with Franklin Regional in the 2016 season, as the Panthers went 14-8 overall, including 8-2 in section play. As a result, the Panthers qualified for the WPIAL Quad-A postseason.

The following campaign, Williams appeared in 14 contests with FR, hitting .286 with four runs and an RBI. His play garnered him Honorable Mention All-Section accolades. The Panthers achieved an overall mark of 12-7, including 10-4 in the section. Thus, they qualified for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, and defeated Hampton before falling to West Allegheny.

The 2018 season was plagued by injury for Williams, as Franklin Regional amassed a mark of 15-5 overall, including 12-2 in the section. Back in the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, the Panthers knocked off Montour, but lost to North Hills in the quarterfinals.

Back to health for his senior year in 2019, Williams played in 16 contests, compiling a .343 average with 10 runs, five RBIs, and a pair of stolen bases. For his efforts, Williams was recognized as a WPIAL First-Team All-Section performer. Collectively, the Panthers went 19-3, including a perfect 12-0 mark in section play. In the WPIAL Class 5A bracket, Franklin Regional bested South Fayette, but came up short against Laurel Highlands in the semifinals. However, the Panthers rebounded with a triumph against Mars Area in the consolation game. In the PIAA postseason, Franklin Regional knocked off Cathedral Prep, but lost to Lampeter-Strasburg in the quarterfinals to conclude the season.

Following his graduation, Williams opted to take a gap year, and then joined Yale University for the 2021 campaign. However, the season was wiped out by COVID for the Ivy League.

As a result, Williams commenced his college career with the Bulldogs in 2022. That season, he played in 21 games, including 18 starts, hitting .250 with 10 runs, two RBIs, and three steals. Yale went 20-18 on the season, including 10-11 in the Ivy League.

The following season, Williams started all 40 games, compiling an average of .273 with 23 runs, 19 RBIs, one home run, and nine stolen bases. The Bulldogs achieved a mark of 17-23, including 10-11 in the conference.

Last year, Williams started 40 contests, batting .271 with 25 runs, 14 runs batted in, one homer, and a dozen steals. Yale went 18-23, as the Bulldogs compiled a mark of 11-10 in Ivy League action.

Now a senior, Williams has enjoyed a breakthrough season. To this point, he’s played in 36 games, including 35 starts, hitting .328 with 27 RBIs, 26 runs, a homer, and six stolen bases. The Bulldogs have also taken big strides collectively, posting a record of 26-16, including 13-5 in the Ivy League, which ties them atop the conference standings.

Entering the final week of the regular season, Jake set aside time to respond to questions about his biggest area of growth during his time at Yale, his unique approach to the recruiting process, and his impact on his younger brother.

Q: How have you evaluated your performance thus far this season?

A: My performance has been good this season. Our team has been playing really well, we've reached our highest win total since 2017 already and are a couple of wins away from clinching a spot in our conference tournament, which is what I'm focused on.

Q: What has been the biggest area of growth during your career at Yale?

A: My biggest area of growth in my career at Yale has been bat-to-ball skills. I've put a lot of work into that over my four years at Yale, which has really helped with all other areas of hitting.

Q: What team and individual goals did you set for 2025?

A: The team's goal going into this season was to make it to our conference tournament and put ourselves in a position to win it. My individual goal was to do everything I could to play my part and help our team get into the tournament and potentially win it.

Q: Aside from your home field, what has been your favorite college ballpark that you've played in?

A: My favorite college ballpark I've played in was Auburn during my freshman year.

Q: What led to your decision to attend Yale?

A: I decided to attend Yale because I tried to use baseball to get into a better academic school than I otherwise could have on my own. And of the academic schools I was targeting, Yale was the best fit in terms of what they were looking for in a player. At the time, they were recruiting guys who were about my size who could really play defensive and had speed, which was the type of player I was coming out of high school.

Q: You created a website to aid your recruitment. How did that idea come about, and what benefits did you see?

A: I created the website in high school because I really saw a need to package all of my information to send to college coaches during the recruiting process. It helped me get recruited, as coaches were asking for tons of video, and it made it easy to package all of my information onto one website and be able to send the link directly to coaches.

Q: What is your major, and ideal future profession?

A: My major is economics, and my ideal profession is working in private equity.

Q: What are the biggest challenges of juggling athletics and academics at an Ivy League school?

A: The biggest challenges of juggling academics and athletics at an Ivy League are the time constraints and varying priorities. It takes intense discipline and time management to stay on top of your schoolwork and perform on the field.

Q: You played at Franklin Regional under veteran head coach Bobby Saddler. What did you like most about him?

A: Coach Saddler was a great coach; I really liked and appreciated his genuine care for his players and his desire to see them succeed during high school and after.

Q: What was your fondest high school memory?

A: My fondest high school memories were all of the Florida trips our baseball team would take in the preseason.

Q: Your younger brother, Luke, is a top player for Franklin Regional and a DI commit. How have you impacted his baseball success and navigation of the recruitment process?

A: I like to think that all of the time we spent practicing growing up, and my own navigation of training, injuries, and college baseball helped paved the way for him, but I'm not sure he'd give me that much credit.

Q: If you could face any pitcher, past or present, for one at-bat, who would you choose? What would be the outcome?

A: I would like to face Alex Frey one last time; he was my college teammate at Yale and high school teammate at Franklin Regional. I would probably work a walk off of him.

Q: What is your favorite sports movie?

A: Favorite sports movie is Moneyball

Q: What is a hidden talent you possess, or a little-known fact about you?

A: I have a very special hidden talent, but I'm afraid if I share it in this interview, it won't be hidden anymore.