Wellington's Cam Smith credits meditation in scintillating start with Florida State baseball

Wellington's Cam Smith has no regrets about staying in Tallahassee for his sophomore season.

Smith, who played high school ball at Palm Beach Central, never questioned whether FSU was home. Not even after the worst season in program history last spring, which snapped a 44-year NCAA Tournament appearance streak.

Now, FSU is ranked No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, first in the ACC with the conference's only undefeated record. Tuning out the outside noise is paying off for Smith and friends.

Before a weekend tournament against Butler on Friday afternoon, Smith talked about this season's transformation while manning third base for the Seminoles at Mike Martin Field.

"Clearly, if you've seen the numbers, we're on a little roll right now," Smith said.

"The vibes are high, the chemistry is there and things like that, so it's pretty cool."

Meditation makes the difference for Smith

So, why is FSU 11-0?

Playing in honor of legendary coach Martin, who led FSU for 40 seasons and died on Feb. 1. Restoring the greatness that the College Baseball Hall of Famer built before last year's 23-31 finish.

Credit the offense, which has produced seven-plus runs per game at a .367 clip.

Coach Link Jarrett credits on-base "functionality" for wins like Wednesday's 19-3 against Florida Gulf Coast. On Thursday, Jarrett recalled a liner by Marco Dinges that just cleared second base.

"Then you saw Cam. Perfect base-running," Jarrett said. "He froze, and if the second baseman had grabbed that, he would've been able to get back, but once it got over the second baseman's head, he made a good read and break and was able to score."

Smith, a 6-foot-3, 229-pound slugger, leads the Noles at .500 with 25 hits.

"What I learned from last year is that I really need to settle down by myself before I step on the field ... I have to do something to get me calm."

In 51 starts as a freshman, Smith batted .258 with 39 runs on 54 hits and 36 RBIs, highlighted by 12 home runs.

"And that means meditation," Smith said. "Listening to calm music and stuff like that just to kind of get in that chill zone."

Smith enjoys Bob Marley, Khalid and country artists like Morgan Wallen to help him mellow out.

"I realized that this isn't an adrenaline-type game like football," Smith said. "You have to be really chill to be successful."

Smith wants to pass that along to recruits.

"Like I keep stressing, meditate before every game — just find a way to stay even-keeled," he said. "It's easy to get hyped up for a rivalry game, playoff games and stuff like that, but if you can find a way to stay calm and confident, you're unbeatable."

Have high school, summer in Cape prepared Smith to declare early for MLB draft?

Long before he was an elite prospect at Palm Beach Central, wearing the garnet and gold was a "dream" for Smith.

Winning in it means a little more.

"Last year, we obviously didn't get where we wanted, so the goal is to get even higher and going to play our ball and make it to Omaha," he said.

"I think, depending on how the season plays out ... I mean, I do plan on playing at the next level as soon as I can," Smith said of thoughts about mid-July's MLB draft.

He played in the Cape Cod League with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks, earning All-Star honors and the McNeese Outstanding Pro Prospect honor, a prize that went to first-round picks Tommy Troy of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022 and Chase DeLauter of the Cleveland Guardians in 2021.

Smith has been on scouts' radars since high school.

After claiming first-team All-American status, Smith landed at No. 84 in the MLB Top 250 heading into the 2022 draft. Perfect Game ranked him as Florida's No. 1 shortstop, No. 8 in the nation, and the nation's No. 53 overall player. He put the world on notice after his junior year, hitting .522-4-14 with the Scorpions/Giants Scout Team at the World Wood Bat Association's 17U tournament in 2021.

Central manager Tony Gullo's resume helps explain why Smith, 21, felt MLB-ready at 17.

Gullo, Smith's varsity coach, has helped produce a long list of major league talent in nearly four decades in the dugout, the past eight years at Central, from World Series champion Brad Peacock to FSU alum Devon Travis, brother of quarterback Jordan Travis.

Gullo also had a hand helping FSU's Jarrett during his final season at Florida High.

"Coach Gullo taught me and all my teammates how to carry yourself like a professional," Smith said. "Obviously, he taught the game, all about defenses and offenses, and stuff like that, but I feel like he stressed the human aspect of it.

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"He made sure we were good humans before good players."

Gullo said a successful season would be a fitting tribute to Martin.

"It certainly would be nice to see FSU make a run being that we lost (No.) 11 this year. It's great to see their success early in this season," Gullo said. "However, the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Only rankings that count are the rankings at the end of the season.

"Happy to see two men I coached being successful there."

Emilee Smarr is a sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wellington's Cam Smith credits meditation for hot start with FSU baseball