Gavin Smith signs to play baseball at IUK
Mar. 15—Logansport senior Gavin Smith has signed to play baseball at IUK.
Smith, the reigning Loganland Player of the Year, said he was happy for the opportunity to stay close to home and play baseball at the NAIA level.
"I'm excited. It's always been a goal of mine to go and play baseball at the next level," he said. "To be able to go play anywhere is pretty cool and to be able to play somewhere close to home with nice facilities like they have and I went and talked to the coaches and they all seem pretty nice, down to earth guys and I'm just ecstatic to be able to go play baseball more after high school."
Smith hit .505 with seven home runs, four triples, 12 doubles, 40 RBIs, 37 runs scored and 11 stolen bases as the Berries' starting shortstop as a junior.
The Berries will have a lot back from last year's team that went 21-9 and won their first NCC title in baseball in 17 years. They open the season at LaPorte on Saturday, April 2.
"We've got a lot of young guys coming up that we think can be a big asset to the team," Smith said. "We're excited about this season especially."
Smith is set to reunite with former Logansport teammate Tucker Platt at IUK. Smith was a freshman and Platt was a senior when the Berries won their first sectional title in baseball in 17 years in 2019. The Cougars are currently 12-7 and 6-0 in the River States Conference. They play their home games at Kokomo Municipal Stadium.
"I think they're a pretty young team so I'm excited to go over there and see what happens," he said.
Smith plans to major in graphic design or business at IUK.
"I was extremely excited for Gavin," Logansport coach Dan Frye said. "He's a hard working baseball player. You can't ask for a better kid. He just keeps his mouth shut, he works hard, he's a great student, he's an all-around great kid. I think he's going to get bigger and stronger and I think he's going to be a huge asset for IUK."
