Despite the slow start to the year for the Baseball Firebirds, Adrian Smith has started the year off with a literal bang.
On March 25th, the Lakota West Baseball Firebirds were trailing the Hamilton Big Blue on the road in the top of the fifth inning. With a 1-0 count, Adrian Smith belted a fly ball over the foul pole in left field for a grand slam that would put the Firebirds at a 7-5 advantage over the Big Blue. While the Firebirds lost this game off of a Hamilton rally in the home half of the fifth inning, all Firebird fans could at least be happy with the fact that the junior, second baseman-pitcher combo had gotten off to a first-team all-state kind of start to the year.
As of 4/5, Smith leads the GMC in HRs (3) and is tied for the lead in RBIs (8). Within the first three games of his junior season, the career .276 hitter collected all three of his career homers on what looked, and still looks to be, one of the hottest starts to the year any Lakota West Firebird has had in the school’s history.
“[I’m] definitely not trying to do too much at the plate,” Smith remarked when asked about his recent stretch of power. “I’ve learned over the years that when I think too much and try to win the game with one swing, it tends to lead to more failure than it does success.”
Smith, who is on pace to become a four-year varsity starter, has shown quite a bit of growth since he broke onto the scene back in his freshman season in 2022. While he dealt with a bit of a sophomore slump at times last season, it looks like Smith is back and better than ever in 2024.
“Trusting in my work and going up to the plate with confidence and with the goal in mind of having fun and trying to do the job at hand has led to a lot of success so far,” Smith commented.
Despite Smith’s multi-home run performance at Turpin and his grand slam at Hamilton, the Firebirds currently sit at a 1-5 record, going 1-3 thus far in conference play. As the Firebirds try to get on the right path in April, Smith will be one of the key players to look for when it comes to the team bouncing back from the rocky start.
