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Old 06-14-2019, 11:10 AM   #35
Litty
Minors (Double A)
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 138
Keesha DeWilliams

DeWilliams was Long Island born and bred. Friends and family described her as opinionated and not shy to share them. Growing up with four brothers, Keesha picked up a baseball bat at an early age. She worked her up way as far as she could, playing tee-ball and Little League before being streamlined into her middle school’s softball team. She caught the eye of colleges in her sophomore year of high school, when she hit 15 home runs with a .400 batting average. She only improved senior year, hitting 20 home runs and maintaining a .405 average for Smithtown High School. However, despite interest from softball powerhouses such as Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington, DeWilliams opted to take a chance on the blossoming WBLA and declared for the league’s sixth first-year player draft.

To no-one’s surprise, DeWilliams went first overall. She was taken by the Charlotte Valiant, who held the number one pick after going 15-57 in 2023, their third season in the league. While the Valiant only improved by seven games in 2024, DeWilliams made an immediate impact on the league. In a rookie of the year winning season, DeWilliams played in 71 of 72 regular season games, starting 67. She maintained an average of .331, 4th best in the league, and hit 15 home runs.
In her sophomore year, she played in 99 of 100 regular season games and led the league in batting average at .396. Batting average would be a title she would hold for the next 4 seasons. 2025 also saw Charlotte make the postseason for the first time, losing to eventual champions Richmond in five games. DeWilliams hit .350 across the series, starting all five games and earning a home run and four RBIs.
2026 was the first of six MVP seasons for DeWilliams. A .446 average, 32 home runs and 97 walks (a category that she would lead for the next four seasons) earned her the top award in the WBLA. Charlotte made the playoffs once again but lost in four to eventual champions Salisbury.

DeWilliams continued to shine over the following seasons, hitting over .400 in 2027 and 2028. She earned back-to-back MVP awards in 2029 and 2030 to become the second player to be named MVP three times (Billie Eischens had done it with wins in 2022, 2024 and 2027). However, 2031 was the next big year for DeWilliams. As she began her second stint of five years at the top of the batting average table, hitting .394, she also helped lead Charlotte to their first championship. DeWilliams hit .268 (aka regular people numbers) as Charlotte beat Asheville in four in the semifinals and Hamilton in six to lift the trophy. They did one better the following season, winning the trophy again and watching as DeWilliams picked up her fourth MVP title. DeWilliams collected her fifth MVP award in 2033, once again going back-to-back.

2034 was a milestone year for DeWilliams as she scored her 1000th WBLA run as well as hit her 1000th RBI and 300th home run as well as being the Abigail Lawlor Trophy Series MVP as Charlotte collected their third title. She collected her sixth, and final, MVP award a season later in 2035 and recorded hit #2000 in 2036. 2038 saw her 1500th RBI and 400th home run but it was clear that her best years were behind her.

Then came the injuries. 4 days after recording her 2500th hit on July 19th 2039, DeWilliams injured her knee during a game with Seattle. She returned after 5 weeks away, only to leave for the season after injuring her hamstring in late September. She returned in time for the start of the 2040 season but a slow start meant that Charlotte traded her for young up-and-comers in late July. Now in Anchorage, she had a slight resurgence with a six-hit game, two player of the week awards and hitting for the cycle in September. However she became a free agent at the end of the season and was not picked up by Anchorage.

2041 saw her starting in a Wichita Does uniform, where she played well until a fractured wrist side-lined her for almost two months. After a mediocre 2042, it was ruled that she did not meet the vesting criteria for her team-optioned third year and once again became a free agent. She was given a one-year deal by Wichita and played in 82 games, pinch-hitting in all her appearances. She hit .315 with two home runs.

DeWilliams played in over 2200 WBLA games and holds a career average of .383. She was an 11-time batting champion and earned 14 Cherry Zeck awards.

DeWilliams holds the single-season record for doubles (59), the postseason record for batting average (.545) as well as the career records for batting average, OBP, runs, hits, singles, walks and WAR. She was an advocate for the LGBT, black, and players’ rights communities and always looked our for the best interests of others.

It is unlikely that there will be a player quite like DeWilliams ever again.
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