Former NIACC pitcher, Minnesota native Brandon Williamson shines in MLB debut with Reds

(ABC 6 News) – Former North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) Trojan pitcher Brandon Williamson made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday and shined!

Williamson, a 25-year old left-hander, allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings of work in the Reds’ 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. At one point, Williamson set down 14 straight Colorado hitters.

Williamson tossed 72 pitches with 47 of them being strikes.

Williamson struck out the Rockies’ Mike Moustakas in the second inning for his first career MLB strikeout. The only blemish was a solo home run he allowed to Ezequiel Tovar in the sixth inning.

“My whole job was to commit and execute the pitch. That’s all I thought about all night, and just leave it all out there,” Williamson said in his post-game press conference.

RELATED: Former NIACC player, Minnesota native to make major league debut Tuesday for Reds

Before making his debut with the Reds Tuesday night, Williamson made eight starts for the Triple-A Louisville Bats with a record of 2-4 with 27 strikeouts and 20 walks in 34 innings pitched.

Williamson, who pitched at NIACC in 2017-18, was a second-round pick the by the Seattle Mariners in 2019. He was traded to the Reds’ organization in March of 2022.

Williamson, who attended Martin County West High School in Sherburn, Minn., was a 36^th round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2018 MLB Draft, but instead chose to attend TCU.

At TCU in 2019, Williamson was an honorable mention all-Big 12 selection. He was 4-5 with a 4.10 earned run average in 77 1/3 innings pitched with 89 strikeouts and 36 walks.

While at NIACC, Williamson won 12 games and is the school’s career strikeout leader with 151.

Williamson became the first Trojan baseball player ever to play in the Major Leagues.