West Orange alumni show their stuff during MLB Spring Training

Fans of the West Orange baseball team didn’t have too travel far the past few weeks to see two former Warriors chase their big-league dreams.

Former standouts for the program Mason Williams and Nolan Fontana each got several reps in during Spring Training in the Florida Grapefruit League with their respective big-league ballclubs before being reassigned to the minor leagues ahead of Major League Baseball Opening Day Monday.

Williams, an outfielder in the New York Yankees’ minor-league system, had an impressive showing in 12 games for New York, which holds its camp in Tampa. 

In 15 plate appearances this spring, Williams hit .333 with 3 RBI to pair with 5 runs scored, a trio of doubles and a triple (as of March 29).

The offensive production is a welcome sign for those locals rooting Williams. 

In Class AA Trenton in 2014, Williams hit just .223 with a .290 on-base percentage. Showing that he can hold his own against big-league pitching this spring could go a long way for Williams, considering his skills as an elite defensive outfielder have never been in question.

Although he will not start the 2015 MLB season with the Yankees, and despite the organization having some depth in the outfield, there is still the possibility that injuries could conspire to create a call-up opportunity for Williams, who will start his season in the minors in either Trenton or perhaps at the Class AAA level with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, if he continues to play well.

Fontana, an infielder with the Houston Astros’ minor-league system since concluding his collegiate career at the University of Florida, didn’t have the greatest spring — but that may not tell the whole story.

In 10 appearances for the Astros, who hold their camp in Kissimmee, Fontana hit just .111 with 1 RBI. 

Still, in an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Astros manager A.J. Hinch had some encouraging words for locals rooting for the former Warrior shortstop.

“He (Fontana) doesn’t come with as much attention, but from a well-rounded baseball skill standpoint he made a good impression,” Hinch said regarding Fontana’s performance this spring.

Fontana is likely heading back to Class AA Corpus Christi, where he hit .262 in 2014 with 26 RBI and 23 extra-base hits.