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<p>MOOSIC &#8212; Mason Williams has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. But in all of his time in Moosic, the outfielder had never been into the visitor&#8217;s clubhouse.</p><p>That changed on Friday when Williams&#8217; new team, the Louisville Bats, came to PNC Field to play a three-game set against the RailRiders, which turned into a two-game set when Sunday&#8217;s season finale was rained out.</p><p>&#8220;It would have been fun to play another game here and be back in Scranton,&#8221; Williams said after Sunday&#8217;s rain out. &#8220;It&#8217;s been fun. We lost the first game but, obviously, we won last night. So it&#8217;s good. It&#8217;s just fun to see all of my old friends have success and be able to be healthy and play this game.&#8221;</p><p>Williams, a 2010 fourth-round selection by the New York Yankees that signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds in the offseason, had his ups and downs in his two-game return.</p><p>First came the downs.</p><p>Williams went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in his return to PNC Field on Friday. He also injured his wrist as he laid out in an attempt to catch a Ryan McBroom drive to deep center field in the second inning of the 4-3 loss. After a brief meeting with the Louisville training staff, Williams stayed in the game.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s sore, for sure, but I&#8217;ll be on the field,&#8221; Williams said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not going to keep me off the field.&#8221;</p><p>But then on Saturday, Williams went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI as the Bats won 9-4. He had a two-run single in the first inning that provided the Bats with a 4-0 lead.</p><p>&#8220;No matter what inning it is, it&#8217;s always good to try to do whatever I can to help the team win,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It was early in the game, those are big runs.&#8221;</p><p>Getting drafted as a 17-year-old out of West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla., and growing up through the Yankees&#8217; farm system, Williams is going through an adjustment period now that he&#8217;s in the Reds&#8217; organization. He&#8217;s batting .251, which is 20 points lower than his career average, and is batting .211 over his last 10 games.</p><p>The Bats as a whole have had their struggles, too. They sit in last place in the International League West Division and 14-games behind first-place Toledo, with Columbus on tap next.</p><p>But with just 58 games under their belt, there&#8217;s still time to turn it around. And Williams believes that he&#8217;s around the right group of people to do it.</p><p>&#8220;In between the white lines, the game&#8217;s still the same. It&#8217;s still the same game of baseball,&#8221; Williams said. &#8220;I still have to play hard and perform. Being with these guys, it&#8217;s so great. Everyone here loves the game of baseball, loves to talk the game of baseball. I&#8217;m always fine with that.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders center fielder Mason Williams made his return to PNC Field this weekend. Now a member of the Louisville Bats, Williams was 2-for-9 with a run scored and two RBI in two games against his old team. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_CMYKRailRiders_4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders center fielder Mason Williams made his return to PNC Field this weekend. Now a member of the Louisville Bats, Williams was 2-for-9 with a run scored and two RBI in two games against his old team. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Former RailRider comes back to PNC Field</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY</strong></p><p>The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders game against the Louisville Bats was rained out on Sunday. It will not be made up.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Former RailRiders outfielder Mason Williams relishes return to PNC Field