Former Summit Baseball Standout Has Sights Set on Majors

Immediately after the St. Louis Community College at Meramec baseball team had its season come to an end on May 13, sophomore catcher Ben Smith was presented with an opportunity he couldn’t afford to pass up.

University of Arkansas–Fort Smith assistant coaches Shohn Doty and Rob Vessell attended Meramec’s season-ending loss. Shortly after the game concluded, the coaches offered Smith an 80 percent athletic scholarship to play baseball for the Lions. Smith thought about the proposal for 20 minutes, then ultimately went with his gut and told the coaches that he would accept their offer.

“It was bittersweet at that moment, just because I was done, and I loved my coach at Meramec (Tony Dattoli), the best coach I’ve ever had,” Smith said. “Shortly after that I signed to go to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. They offered me 80 percent, which is pretty much unheard of in baseball. I couldn’t pass that up.”

Smith, who was a standout at Rockwood Summit High School before attending Meramec for two years, had also considered attending local schools Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri.

Other schools in the mix were Cameron University (Oklahoma), Delta State University (Mississippi) and the University of West Alabama.

Although Smith knew that the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith was interested in his services, he did not visit the school until a month after he accepted the scholarship.

“I absolutely loved it,” Smith said. “It was definitely one of those things where I just went with my gut feeling, and it’s working out so far. I think it’s going to keep working out for me.”

Smith will major in business administration at the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith. The school’s baseball team had a 25-21 record last season. It was the squad’s second year as an NCAA Division II provisional program.

Smith had two outstanding seasons for Meramec’s baseball team. He had a .310 batting average with 32 RBI and he scored 30 runs during his sophomore year as the Magic went 31-22. For his efforts, Smith was named to the All-Region XVI team.

During his freshman season, Smith hit .291 and scored 30 runs. He led the Magic in RBI (47) and home runs (9) as Meramec finished the year 31-28.

Smith played three years on the varsity team at Rockwood Summit before graduating in 2009. He helped the Falcons compile a 42-29 overall record and a 15-6 mark within the Suburban South Conference during that three-year period.

“One thing we did was we kind of established Summit as a baseball program,” Smith said. “Before, it wasn’t much of a program. We actually established some footing as far as Summit’s a team to be reckoned with in the future.”

Smith had terrific junior and senior seasons at Summit. As a senior, Smith led the Falcons with a .915 slugging percentage, 47 RBI and 11 home runs. He hit .439, which was the second-best average on the team.

He received numerous awards following his senior campaign. Smith was named to the all-state, all-metro and all-district first teams. He was also selected as the Suburban South Conference Player of the Year and was the Rockwood Summit Male Athlete of the Year.

During his junior year, Smith hit .429, had 23 RBI and scored 19 runs. He was named to the all-conference and all-district first teams.

Smith recorded his sterling offensive statistics at both Summit and Meramec while having to play the demanding catcher position. Smith said he plans on playing catcher at Fort Smith, and for the rest of his career. He added that he has no regrets from his playing days at Summit and Meramec.

“I would not change anything. I loved it,” Smith said. “My senior year was the best team camaraderie I’ve ever played with in my life. Everybody was so selfless. Everybody was just there to win. I learned so much from my coaches. Each level I’ve gone up, I’ve had the right coach for the right time to teach me the right things.”

Smith’s dream is to enter the Major League Baseball Draft and make a team within the next two years. He is confident that he will reach this goal.

“I’m training and working harder than I’ve ever trained,” Smith said. “It will happen, I promise you that. That’s been my goal since I was a little boy. That’s why kids play, to play in the MLB. They want to win a World Series, and that’s my goal, too. That’s what I’m striving for.

“I will get it, because anything I set my mind to I will do.”