By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

EMORY, Va. — It’s already getting cold in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and 53 degrees in wind and rain feels like 33.

“One of the coaches yelled at practice, ‘Hey, boys, y’all got to adjust to the weather here,'” said infielder/pitcher Steven Smith with a chuckle. “They tell us the weather is going to be an advantage for us. I hope so.”

Smith doesn’t mind the discomfort. He’ll never complain about fall workouts. He’s on a baseball field, and that’s the only place he’s ever wanted to be. He started playing when he was 4 years old. Now he’s 20, and his love for the game hasn’t diminished any.

Smith’s new school is Emory & Henry University. The Wasps competed in Division III athletics not long ago, but they officially became a Division II South Atlantic Conference member prior to the 2022-23 school year.

“One of the best Division II baseball conferences,” Smith said. “Big jump for Emory & Henry.”

Some Rowan County baseball players helped Emory & Henry make the transition to the SAC last spring.

Former East Rowan, Rowan County American Legion and Wake Tech slugger Wayne Mize was Emory & Henry’s best offensive player. He batted .389 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs. Last March, Bryson Wagner, Mize’s long-time teammate, earned the mound victory in the first game that Emory & Henry ever won in the SAC.

That was against Wingate.

Now Emory & Henry has landed Smith, who played a summer of Legion ball with Mize and Wagner back in 2019.

Emory & Henry first tried to recruit Smith, who is a combination infielder and pitcher, when he was at West Rowan.

Smith batted .329 as a sophomore shortstop for the Falcons in 2019.

But then COVID came along. Smith graduating class — 2021 — was the one affected the most and hit the hardest. Baseball players in that class lost nearly all of their junior seasons (Smith played five games in 2020) and then had the start of shortened senior seasons delayed until April.

Smith may have been a household name in Rowan County had he gotten to play full seasons for coach Seth Graham. He is on the small side, but if he stood 6-foot-1 and weighed pounds. he would’ve been recruited by everyone. He has electricity in his right arm, sensational bat speed and a solid glove. He can play shortstop, second base or third base.

“We had a team in 2020 at West that had so much pitching that we could have won state,” Smith said. “In 2021, we were still good, but we never quite got back to where we were my junior year. COVID kind of broke us up.”

In the fall of 2020, Smith played on a scrappy team of lightly recruited players that beat the South Charlotte Panthers, an elite team with numerous D-I recruits, in a tournament in Greensboro.

Smith launched a two-run homer to win that game 2-1. He also closed it out on the mound. He’ll never forget it.

Everyone who has ever coached Smith will tell you that he’s competitive on the mound, in the field and in the batter’s box. He’s not afraid of anyone. He doesn’t care who’s pitching to him or who he’s pitching to.

But COVID was a tough adversary to beat. Smith had big dreams, but limited options after high school.

The place he liked best from among those options was Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute in Hudson. It was a young program, but he never regretted his decision to go there. He played with a quite a few friends from Rowan County.

“Coach (Frank) Pait, who recruited me, was great, and he even made the practices fun,” Smith said. “I learned a lot from him, became a better player and a better person. And we won a lot of games.”

The Caldwell Cobras were 49-9 in 2022 and finished third nationally. Pait stepped down after the 2022 season. Assistant Gage Parham took charge and led a 36-5 season in 2023.

“I batted .331 and .348 and had 20 jacks in my two years at Caldwell,” Smith said. “And I got to close games. I’m someone that can throw hard. That’s an advantage for me. When I come into a game to pitch, they don’t expect me to throw as hard as I do.”

There was a day in April when Smith, who also has a curve and changeup, brought some serious gas to the mound and saved both games of a doubleheader.

His arm is still fresh. He’s never thrown a lot of innings at any level. He’s working on a cutter and a sinking fastball.

Smith wasn’t sure what was going to come next after Caldwell, but then he got a phone call. The caller was Emory & Henry recruiting coordinator Kyle Cliff, who also coaches pitchers. It had been a while, but Emory & Henry hadn’t forgotten the West Rowan youngster with the surprising arm and the surprising pop.

“It was about 10 in the morning when he called, and they wanted me to visit the campus,” Smith said. “They made an offer, and now I’m here.”

In the fall games, Smith is doing what he’s gotten used to doing. Emory & Henry beat King University twice last week. In one game, Smith hit a home run — and got a save.

“One run up or one run down, I want the ball,” Smith said. “I hope that’s going to be my role here, same as it was at Caldwell.”

The official spring season will start for the Emory & Henry Wasps while it’s still the dead of winter — the first week of February.

Cold or not, Smith will be ready.

Classes are going as well as baseball. He’s a good student. He was honored for academic achievements at Caldwell. He plans a double major at Emory & Henry in business and sports management.

“I want to play baseball as long as I can,” Smith said. “When my days of playing baseball are over, I still want to stay in sports.”