Basement Tutorials Helped Bryanna Williams Learn To Pitch

Bryanna Williams wasn't getting many balls hit her way in the outfield and wanted to switch to pitching. Her decision came right when the Covid pandemic swept the country and there weren't many coaches or facilities she could visit.

The basement at her home in Maryland had enough room for a pitching lane, and her dad put down mats and a pitching rubber.

“I would watch YouTube videos and that's how my dad and I learned how to pitch,” Williams said. “That gave me the basics, and then I was able to start seeing a pitching coach 20 minutes away. He would teach me the different types of pitches whenever I was ready.”

Williams has never regretted the move to pitching when she was 10. The 2027 right-handed recruit enjoys the pressure and having her teammates depend on her when she's in the circle.

“I also really like the strikeouts, honestly,” said Williams, who plays travel ball for Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2027b Alford/Rocky. “But as you get older and the strikeouts become fewer and fewer. I like to pitch because it's a very challenging thing to do, and I like challenges. I like seeing myself get better, especially in a really competitive game. I like the feeling helping my team make a play.”

Williams suffered an injury setback in 2023 when she tore her ACL and meniscus in her left knee at PGF Nationals in California. She missed her freshman season of high school and the summer of 2024 before returning to the field. She was sidelined again in the summer of 2025 with inflammation in the same knee.

The absences halted a few opportunities to get seen by college coaches, but Williams still hopes to play at the next level.

“I want to play at a really good academic school,” said Williams, who has a 4.6 weighted GPA and wants to explore psychology or sports medicine. “I'm not only looking at places where I can win a national championship. That's not how I roll. Winning a national championship is great, but I'm not going to a school solely to win a national championship. Academics is really important to me.”

Although she has not yet committed to college, Williams doesn't want the stress of the recruiting process to rob her of her joy in the circle.

“I try not to think about it when I'm playing, especially when I'm at a tournament because it kind of puts unnecessary pressure on me,” she said. “I just try to play because I like to play and I like to pitch rather than, ‘Oh, I need to be looking out for these coaches that are watching me.'”

Any time Williams needs a break from softball or academics, she enjoys watching movies, drawing, or reading a good book.

“I love detective story books,” she said. “I remember in fifth grade, we had a choice between a fantasy book and a detective book, and I was like, ‘I'm definitely picking a detective book.' I just loved reading it, so I just kept reading more and more.”