Cornwall High School senior Matt Smith started his baseball career as a pitcher, but over the years he’s bounced around the field. His career comes full circle as he will once again take the mound for the Dragons this season.
Smith began playing Little League at the age of five. “All my friends did it, so I tried it and really liked it,” he said. “I stuck with it ever since.”
The young ball player moved around a lot, playing short stop, second base, and even outfield, but he found he had a natural ability to hurl the ball across home plate.
Smith pitched his way through modified as a seventh and eighth grader and as a freshman on the JV team, but when he reached the varsity level as a sophomore he was moved to third base full time. As one of the younger members on the team, Smith knew he’d have to wait his turn in order to return to the mound.
In the meantime the corner infielder was comfortable in his new position. In prior years, the games he didn’t pitch he was placed at second or short stop. Smith said all infield positions are basically the same and no adjustment period was necessary.
That year, the Dragons won the state title.
“It was actually one of the most fun experiences of my life. You don’t get to do that every day. It was just great. Nobody ever expects to make it that far since it’s only been done once before. We were only trying to do the best we could and we ended up being the best in the state.”
When the team celebrated its victory during the team banquet, Smith presented the three coaches with hand-made, regulation-sized wood bats, engraved with the coach’s name and the words “state champions.” Each bat was signed by the team members.
“I like to do things with wood. I have a wood shop in my basement.“
Smith pitched in a number of games his junior year, including possibly the most important game of his life to date. Down 5-0 after two innings in the Section 9 championship game, Smith was handed the ball in a relief situation. He pitched shut-out ball the rest of the way and his team rallied in victory.
“I was just trying to do the best I really could. There wasn’t much I could do except go out and do as well as I could and hope everyone else was going to back me up.”
Smith expects to pitch at least once or twice a week in his final season. He’ll play center field the other games. His one goal heading into the season is to win another section title.
“That’s always the goal. I think we have a good shot at it. We have a lot of young kids, but we also have a lot of experience since some of those kids were there last season. We have a lot of potential, but it comes down to whether we show up and play or not.”
Smith’s senior year may or may not be his last season to play baseball. He’s still waiting to hear from a number of colleges and hasn’t yet decided if he’ll continue playing. His top colleges include Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, and Johns Hopkins University and he’s already been accepted to Northeastern University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Siena College, Binghamton University, and Stevens Institute of Technology. Smith will focus on mathematics with either a major in mechanical engineering or finance.
Baseball wasn’t the only sport in which Smith experienced a change in position. He played most of his brief career as a quarterback, but was moved to safety in his senior year.
Smith only started playing football seriously in the sixth grade.
“I played as a kid, but I didn’t enjoy it too much. I stopped, but after two years I picked it back up again. I was bored over the summer and decided to try it again. It was fun the second time, so I stuck with it.”
Smith played Youth Football for three years and played on the freshman team in ninth grade. He played varsity his sophomore and senior years, taking his junior year off to focus on baseball and to work on his grades.
The former quarterback welcomed the position change because he knew he wouldn’t get a chance to play behind mainstay Mike White. Defense was new to Smith and it took about a month to adjust. He said it was difficult to pick up the coverages at first, but admits playing defense is easier than quarterback. He said the defense only needs to learn six or seven coverages while the quarterback has to remember nearly 100 offensive plays.
