My earliest memory of baseball was captured in a picture taken by my parents. I don’t real remember it, but I’m sitting there with a big cheesy smile with a baseball hat on and bat in my hand.

Perhaps it was forced upon me, but regardless, I loved the sport from the start. It takes a full team to effort and moral to win a game. The thing I like most about the sport is that it’s not just physical, but a big mental sport as well. You’re going to fail more than you succeed in the sport, and you have to stay positive and move on because if not then you will continue to fail.

My first appearance in the box was in T-ball and that set a long future for me in baseball. I was a multi-sport athlete. I played football, baseball, basketball and wrestling all the way up to middle school. I had to make the decision before high school of what sport I wanted to stick with and concentrate on.

I chose baseball because it was the sport I was best at. Most of all the success in the sport was a lot better feeling because the amount of failure that went along with it. Baseball teaches a life lessing because no matter how much you fail you have to keep your head up and keep moving forward. That’s the best way to play the game and the best way to live life.

Baseball worked out for me because I started as a freshman and all the way through senior. I made first team All-Cape and played in the Carpenter Cup with the top players in South Jersey. It’s some what a competition because my older brother Jon Smith played varsity and made First Team All South Jersey. So he has some bragging rights on me.

The biggest motivation and influence on where I am today and why I play baseball is my dad. He passed away my freshman year on November 20, 2010. He taught me everything I know about the game and life in such a short time so I honor him by working hard everyday. It’s a shame cause he wasn’t alive to see me a my brother play varsity together, but was definitely looking down on us.

Nothing stopped him from taking us out to the field and showing us how to play even though he had cancer and was in pain. I remind myself before every time taking that field who I’m playing for and I even put a picture of him in my hat so that he’s with me.

Baseball is a tough sport to get in shape for. You can’t just go the gym and lift weights to get bigger. You have maintain a certain muscle weight because not only do you have to be muscular, but you have be extremely flexible and fast. My offseason workout ethics are pretty intense. I lift four times a week but the days in between I have to do speed and agility along with band workouts to keep flexible.

High school baseball isn’t my last year I hang up the glove. I am going on to playing Division 1 college baseball against the top teams in the country. Very few kids go on to play at this level and I do not plan on stopping there.

My whole life’s plan is to go pro in my sport because I’ve worked me entire life trying to get to there. Chances are very slim, but I proven i can play Division 1 and now it’s time to take it to a whole other level.