By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
ENID – As Noah Smith strolled to the plate for what was likely to be the last at-bat of his high school baseball career, the pressure was on the Piedmont product to produce one, final time.
With the West All-Stars knotted up with the East squad 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association All-State game on Sunday afternoon at Enid’s David Allen Memorial Ballpark, Smith batted with the bases loaded and one out.
The senior outfielder smashed a two-strike pitch for a two-RBI double to left-center field as the West team prevailed over the East, 6-3. Smith’s second double of the game held up as the game-winner and helped him earned Most Valuable Player honors.
He finished 2 for 2 with two doubles, three RBI’s and a walk.
“It fills you with a big sense of pride. To see him produce like that was great,” Piedmont head coach Adam Skokowski said of Smith. “You love all the kids that come through your program, they become part of your family, and to see him have that kind of game was absolutely awesome.”
Sand Springs righthander Jabe Schlehuber managed to get two strikes by Smith early in the at-bat, but Smith remained patient.
“He had been spinning a lot of his curveballs,” Smith said, “he left one up and I took advantage of it.”
Earlier in the game, Smith bashed an RBI-double to right field as the West team rallied from a 3-0 deficit. His performance was a continuation of a prolific senior season that included two home runs, 36 RBI’s, 40 runs scored and a .370 batting average.
“A lot of my success came from my mindset. Not trying to think as much and just letting my body take over,” Smith said. “Earlier in my career, I was worrying too much about minor mechanical stuff and not trusting my athleticism.”
Smith was also quick to point out that he believed PHS teammates Logan Hill and Jakeb Koop deserved to be All-Staters.
“They should’ve been on the field, too,” he said.
Smith has signed to play at Cisco Junior College in Texas, where he hopes to forge a path toward a Division I scholarship.
“That’s obviously the end goal,” Smith said. “But, at the end of the day, I just want to go somewhere to have a chance to see some playing time.”
Skokowski noted that Smith’s performance in the All-State game came against some of the state’s top players.
“Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for him,” he said.
