He Hopes to Have Devil of a Time in Omaha : College baseball: Former Torrance third baseman Antone Williamson leads No. 1 Arizona State into College Series.

The damp, gray sky sent an emotional chill through Antone Williamson.

“It’s kind of eerie,” he said of Wednesday’s weather in Omaha.

Rest assured, though, there is no place Williamson would rather be this week. Arizona State’s All-American third baseman would probably stand in the path of a tornado for a chance to play in the College World Series.

“It’s an honor to be here,” he said. “I can’t wait to get after it.”

He won’t have to wait long. The second-seeded Sun Devils (46-18), who are ranked No. 1 in the nation by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, open the double-elimination tournament at 10:06 a.m. Saturday against seventh-seeded Wichita State (55-16) in a game that will be televised nationally by CBS.

Williamson, a sophomore from Torrance High, has

been largely responsible for Arizona State’s surprising season. Picked by the coaches to finish fifth out of six teams in the Pacific-10 Southern Division, the Sun Devils won the division title with a 19-11 record and went 4-0 last week in winning the West Regional title on their home field.

It was during the regional that Williamson hit one of the longest home runs in Arizona State history. In a 9-0

victory over Cal State Northridge on Saturday night, he led off the second inning with a home run that cleared the 40-foot green metal hitter’s background behind the center-field fence 400 feet away.

Williamson became only the 13th player in the 19-year history of Arizona State’s Packard Stadium to hit a ball over what is known as the “Green Monster.” Included in that elite group is Barry Bonds, a former Sun Devil.

“It was crushed,” Arizona State Coach Jim Brock said of Williamson’s home run. “We’ve had a few of those which were aided by the wind. (But) it was dead calm when he hit his.

“It was a little bit of a shock. Antone has a lot of power to left-center and right-center, but I don’t think anybody had seen him hit the ball that hard to dead center.”

Williamson, who bats left and throws right, said his 14th home run of the season came on a 3-1 fastball over the plate.

“I got every inch of it,” he said. “I watched it. I knew it was gone, but I didn’t know it was going to go that far.”

Saturday’s home run was one of several highlights for Williamson in the past week. The others:

* In a first-round regional game May 27, he batted five for five and hit for the cycle in a 13-4 victory over George Mason.

* Sunday he was named to the all-regional team after Arizona State beat St. John’s, 12-2, to clinch its first berth in the College World Series since 1988. (The Sun Devils have won five national championships, the last one in 1981, and are making their 16th appearance in the World Series.)

* Thursday he was named to Baseball America’s All-America first team.

The accolades come as no surprise to Brock, in his 22nd season as Arizona State coach. If there is a better third baseman in the country than Williamson, Brock hasn’t seen him.

“If he’s not an established big leaguer for 20 years, then something went wrong,” he said. “He has a ton of ability.”

The San Diego Padres tried to sign Williamson two years ago after drafting him in the third round out of high school. Williamson said he wanted to turn pro but bowed to the wishes of his mother, Vicki, who wanted him to get a college education.

“I don’t regret my decision at all,” said Williamson, who will again be eligible for the draft in 1994. “I’m having a really good time.”

A year older and wiser, Williamson has made steady improvement since his freshman year at Arizona State. He ranks second on the team with a .387 batting average, 71 runs scored, 103 hits, 84 runs batted in and 12 game-winning hits, and he is tied for second in home runs. He leads the team with 29 doubles.

Williamson credits John Pierson, the Sun Devils’ first-year batting coach, for helping him improve his swing and increase his power.

“My swing is more of a whip now,” he said. “I have more effortless power. I learned that you don’t have to swing hard to hit it far.”

Williamson has also learned a few things about taking care of himself. As a freshman, he said his weight dropped from 184 pounds at the beginning of the season to 167 by the final game.

After an off-season of weightlifting, the 6-foot-1 Williamson has done a better job of staying fit. He started the season at 197 pounds and currently weighs 188, he said.

“I’ve learned how to play over the long season,” he said. “Last year, I didn’t know the season was that demanding on the body. I was so tired some nights, I would go to bed without eating.”

This season, Williamson has feasted on both left-handed and right-handed pitchers, Brock said. He bats fifth for Arizona State, which has a .336 team average.

“We have a lot of good left-handed hitters and most teams pitch left-handers against us,” Brock said. “At one point, his (batting) average was higher against left-handers than right-handers.

“He’s so fundamentally sound. His stroke is so short and compact that he is able to handle breaking pitches.”

Although considered an excellent third baseman, Williamson suffered through a midseason defensive slump. He leads Arizona State with 19 errors, but Brock said the mistakes were more a result of Williamson trying to do too much rather than a lack of skill.

“In the last six weeks, he’s played third about as well as it can be played,” Brock said. “He makes a lot of diving stops and he has the strongest arm of any player I can remember having in the infield.”

Williamson established his reputation as an all-around player during three seasons as an all-star third baseman at Torrance High. He batted .539 as a senior in 1991 to finish his varsity career with 153 hits, a South Bay record and the third-highest total in state history.

Now that he has established himself as a college player, Williamson said he is looking forward to joining the professional ranks.

“I want to see what the next level is like,” he said.

If Williamson wants a second-hand account of major league baseball, he can ask his cousin, Kevin Higgins. A former standout at Torrance and Arizona State, Higgins, a catcher, was called up by the Padres from the club’s triple-A team in Las Vegas on May 27, the same day that Williamson hit for the cycle against George Mason.

“Kevin’s mom called me before the game to tell me,” Williamson said. “I was pumped up.”

These days, it’s all Williamson can do to keep his emotions under control, even on a dreary afternoon in the Midwest.