BROCKTON, Mass. – Following the last season of his collegiate career, lefthander Pierce Williams knew he wanted to keep playing baseball. It was not long before he found a place with the Brockton Rox, over a 1,000 mile drive from his home town of Douglasville, Georgia. 

 

The humble southerner was coming off of his best season in college as a part of the North Georgia Nighthawks, a team that was having one of its greatest seasons ever. The Nighthawks went 41-17 with the top record in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) and made the Division II Southeast Regional. Williams held steady all season with a 3.61 ERA through 77.1 innings pitched, adding 73 strikeouts and only 36 walks.

 

This was after Williams was held to under 17 innings pitched in each of the prior two seasons due to some ongoing injuries. This did not stop him from coming back and returning to form in quick fashion during the 2025 season.

 

“It was hurting a lot to not be on the field for two straight years,” Williams said. “It really made me work even harder.”

 

In that 2025 season, Williams earned a spot on the PBC All-Conference Second Team for the second time in his college career. 

 

After his dominant season, Williams considered his options: “After college season wrapped up I didn’t really know what the plan was,” Williams said. “I knew I wanted to keep playing… I started reaching out to different coaches on Instagram… [pitching coach Dan Sausville] texted me and we got it set up. I got the contract on a Monday and I left [the next day] and I headed up here, drove 20 hours.”

 

That was how bad Williams wanted to continue to play baseball. He packed up all of his stuff in his pickup truck and drove all the way up the east coast on very short notice.

 

Williams continued his stellar form on the mound and solidified himself as one of the top pitchers on the Brockton Rox roster with a 2.98 ERA through 44.1 innings pitched, adding 34 strikeouts and only 14 walks.

 

“It was a big pickup for us,” Brockton Rox Head Coach Jerod Edmondson said. “Obviously it's hard to find starting pitching, especially guys that can come in and dominate like he has.”

 

Williams has been able to get outs efficiently despite having a fastball that tops out in the low 90 miles per hour range. According to Williams, his control is what allows him to be so successful.

 

“The biggest thing for me is trying to be as aggressive as possible,” Williams said. “I don’t throw as hard as most people so I know I have to be hitting my spots and make good pitches.

 

“He’s always ready,” Edmondson said. “He understands what kind of pitcher he is. He has to know how to attack everybody. He doesn’t have 97 for the heater so he’s gotta be able to pitch a little bit.”

 

According to Williams, his best pitch is a changeup and he has been throwing it between 40-50% of the time since joining the Rox.

 

“I try to keep [batters] off balance with my changeup,” Williams said. “That’s really what I use to dominate in my outings.”

 

While Williams has been efficient in the majority of his outings, he does give up some hits just like every starting pitcher. However, Williams is oftentimes able to limit the amount of runs given up despite giving up a large amount of hits. This is proven in one of his outings against the Down East Bird Dawgs on August 12, when he gave up nine hits but only allowed one run through six innings of work.

 

“I try to catch my breath and lock in on what I’m trying to do,” Williams said. “I might’ve messed up on a pitch and I know that I just need to move on to the next thing. I just need to focus on the next guy that is in the box.”

 

“To be able to battle through that and still limit the damage I think that’s the key,” said Edmondson.

 

Williams has struggled in his last two outings, giving up 5 runs and 6 runs respectively. However, he is unphased: “The biggest thing is to finish strong and then go into the offseason evaluating everything from this season and my spring season from North Georgia to find a way to get even better,” said Williams.

 

At the end of the day, Williams credits his success to those closest to him: “A lot of my teammates, my parents and my girlfriend have always supported me so much,” Williams said. “I really would not have made it this far without any of those people.”

 

Williams will hope to return to his dominating ways in his last outing of the season against the New Jersey Jackals this upcoming weekend in Brockton.