Smith brings Gamecocks a big bat
The biggest hole to fill on the South Carolina baseball team will be in the heart of the batting order. With the departure of Christian Walker, the program’s top run producer in three consecutive trips to the College World Series finals, the Gamecocks are looking for new big bats.
Enter Zack Smith.
Although he took a circuitous route to Carolina Stadium, the former White Knoll High standout arrives for the start of the new school year at the right time. At 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, Smith could play first base, a corner outfield spot or serve as the designated hitter. More important, he has the ability to deliver some punch in the middle of the order.
“That’s pretty exciting to me,” Smith said. “I like stepping into those shoes. I’ve got big shoes to fill with all the hitters leaving.”
Smith has shown that he can hit. In his 2010 freshman season at NCAA Division II Erskine College, he batted .379 with nine homers and 42 RBIs. He transferred to USC Sumter in the junior college ranks last year and batted .318 with nine homers and 53 RBIs. In the summer of 2011, he batted .354 with 11 homers and 46 RBIs for the Columbia Blowfish in the wood-bat Coastal Plain League.
He didn’t swing the bat as well in 22 games this summer for the Blowfish — partly because he reported late after taking some summer school courses — but he showed manager Brian Buscher, who was recently named USC’s new volunteer assistant coach, plenty of potential.
“When he walks up to the plate, you just feel like something good is going to happen,” Buscher said.
Even when Smith got off to a slow start — he finished with a .193 average — he viewed his time at Capital City Stadium as a way to get his batting eye back after two months away from the game. Buscher left him in the everyday lineup.
“I told him, ‘You’ve been hitting your whole life. It’s going to come. Don’t put any more pressure on yourself. Go out there and have fun,’ ” Buscher said.
That’s what he and the rest of the Blowfish did on the way to capturing the CPL championship. He hopes to have more fun with the Gamecocks. Once he received an offer to play here — despite growing up as a Clemson fan — he didn’t hesitate to accept.
“It’s a pretty easy decision, a good program with good coaches. I love Coach (Chad) Holbrook,” Smith said.
Holbrook shares those good feelings. After the Gamecocks got back from Omaha in June, he had this to say about Smith.
“We love his bat. He’s strong. He’s got bat speed. He has hit for a high average at the college level,” Holbrook said. “We recruited him to hit in the middle of our lineup and we think he can do that. Hopefully, he’ll fill a void and make up for some of those RBIs and home runs we lost with Walker.”
Walker, who piled up 30 homers and 168 RBIs over three seasons, anchored a lineup that struggled to score runs at times last season, especially in the championship series against Arizona. But Smith understands that he’s not guaranteed a lineup spot without proving what he can do in fall practices against SEC-caliber pitching.
“It’s going to be fun trying to get myself in that lineup,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of talent there. You’ve just got to go out there and win you a spot.”
Buscher has not seen Smith play the outfield but called him an adequate first baseman. But he believes Smith’s bat needs to be in the lineup. He said Smith has the tools to make the transition to better pitching and bigger crowds.
“Most of it is going to come down to him and how he handles that step. Sometimes that’s the hardest step for guys to take, when they come into the best conference in the country with all the lights and that stuff,” Buscher said.
This story was originally published August 22, 2012 at 12:00 AM.