Darien’s Henry Williams selected by San Diego Padres in MLB draft

Former Darien standout Henry Williams has been selected in the third round by the San Diego Padres with the 91st overall pick of the MLB draft.

Williams was one of three players with state ties drafted on Monday. Mike Walsh, a right-handed pitcher from Yale, was taken in the ninth round with the 260th pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates. UConn pitcher Austin Peterson was taken by the Cleveland Guardians in the ninth round with pick 271.

After not hearing his name called on the first day of the draft, Williams said he took a deep breath Sunday night and reset himself for Day 2 on Monday.

Williams, who just finished his junior year at Duke, was with his immediate family when he got the call from his agent.

“My agent called and told me to put on the TV. I wasn’t watching because seeing other people’s names get called was just adding to the stress,” Williams said. “My name popped up and it was pretty cool seeing I was going to the Padres. I’m so glad I was with my family because they are the only group of people who really know what I have gone through to get to this point.”

Williams is the first player from Darien drafted since Mike Scott, the former UConn outfielder who is currently Darien’s head coach.

“He’s a special talent,” Scott said of Williams.

Williams said no matter where his career takes him, Darien will always hold a special place in his heart.

“I love Darien baseball and have a lot of great memories playing there for Coach Scott,” Williams said. “It’s awesome to come from a lacrosse town and get drafted as a baseball player. It means so much to represent my town in this way.”

Williams, a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher at Duke, underwent Tommy John surgery on Dec. 16.

“I was throwing hard in the mid-90s, felt great, so pumped for junior year,” he said. “Well, I got hurt before we were even in scrimmages. I recovered. Got hurt again.”

He returned home to Darien and got an MRI. Within 10 days he had Tommy John surgery, ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, performed by Dr. Christopher Ahmad, the Yankees’ team physician, at Columbia Medical Center.

“If you had told me seven months ago as I was rehabbing from Tommy John that I would get taken in the third round, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Williams said. “The Padres were one of three teams that showed interest in me out of high school. I had limited playing time in college with injuries, and for them to take me in the third round means a lot to me. I am thrilled to be a part of that organization and can’t wait to get to work.”

Before he got hurt again, Williams was throwing his four-seam fastball 93 to 95 mph.

Prior to being hurt in April 2021, Williams struck out 45 over 37 innings, going 3-3 with a 3.65 ERA for Duke.

The Padres recently called up another Connecticut native in Shelton’s Matt Batten. The former Quinnipiac star is filling a utility infield role for San Diego.

Walsh was an All-Ivy League honorable mention, striking out a team-leading 80 batters in 65 innings this season.

Walsh, the first player from the Ivy League taken in this year’s draft, is the 43rd Yale player selected in MLB Draft history — including 38 since 1993. He is one of nine players in Yale history taken in the draft’s top 10 rounds.

Walsh started 11 games for Yale this past spring, serving as the Bulldog’s No. 1 starter throughout the Ivy season. Opponents hit .237 against him, the fifth-lowest opposing batting average in the league. He was an honorable mention All-Ivy League selection.

“Could not be prouder of Michael,” John Stuper, who coached Walsh at Yale for the past three years, said in a statement. “He earned this through hard work and dedication to his craft. He worked so hard I sometimes had to protect him from himself. He wants to be great. Hard for a coach to argue with that. He went to the Cape and became a reliever, which is where he is best suited. 11 innings up there with 23 Ks says it all.”

Peterson, a right-hander set UConn’s single-season record with 147 strikeouts and tied for second in single-season program history with 11 wins. He is the the 16th UConn player under head coach Jim Penders to be drafted in the top 10 rounds of the draft and second this season, following the selection of Reggie Crawford by the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the draft Sunday night.