Williams is poised to pounce on state softball home run record

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Alia Williams of Crenshaw needs only one home run to break the state single-season softball record of 17 first set by University City’s Lisa Dodd in 2003 and equaled last spring by Perelini Koria of San Pedro, who established the state career record with her 39th and 40th dingers on Monday.

Williams has 17 homers in 17 games this season -- her latest a two-run blast in the third inning of a 24-1 shellacking of winless Locke on Wednesday. It was the 35th career homer for the Cougars junior, who is batting .746 with 47 hits and 55 RBIs. She’ll have her first chance to break the single-season record on Monday when Crenshaw hosts Jefferson.

Crenshaw Coach Frank Price, Jr. said his star third baseman is a born righty whom he taught to bat left-handed as a freshman to complement her blazing speed. Her natural position is center field, which she patrols for her gold travel-ball team, the Los Angeles-based RBI Monarchs.

Are Williams’ numbers inflated because she competes in a weak Coliseum League or is she every bit as good as the stats indicate? Price believes the latter: ‘She might be the best player I’ve coached in my 15 years at Crenshaw. I had Kenora Posey [now the starting shortstop at Tennessee] a few years back and Alia has the potential to be even better. The best part is, she’s still got a whole year of high school ahead of her.’

With an unbelievable slugging percentage of 1.794, Williams is also on pace to break the state single-season record of 1.622, which, according to CalHiSports.com, was set in 1998 by Lisa Estill of Simi Valley Grace Brethren.

If she keeps this up, Williams may own every home run record in the book by the time she graduates.

-- Steve Galluzzo

-- Image: http://www.wncc.net/images