| Inspirational award for freshman Smith |
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Posted: Thursday, August 23, 2012 7:00 pm
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Despite being born without a right hand, Carter Smith never let that phase him. He put in the work to get better every day and that eventually led to a college scholarship to play baseball at UT Martin.
The hard work paid off in another big way on Tuesday as CollegeBaseballInsider.com named Smith a recipient of the second annual Tom Walter College Baseball Inspiration Award.
Smith shares the prestigious national award with Marty Gantt (College of Charleston), Mike Kent (Clemson), Alex Silver (Texas) and Tanner Varva (Valparaiso).
The award is named after Tom Walter, the head coach at Wake Forest who donated a kidney to freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan before the 2011 season.
“This is not only a great honor for our school, but it is great for Carter personally,” Skyhawk head coach Bubba Cates said. “This is big for his family and everybody who has helped him along the way.”
Smith worked his way into the starting rotation for UT Martin as a true freshman in 2012. His potential was evident from the day he first stepped on the mound against Butler on Feb. 25. In his collegiate debut, the 6-2 southpaw conceded just one hit — a bunt single — over four scoreless frames to earn the victory.
That would just be the beginning of a remarkable start to his career, as he would emerge victorious in his first three decisions.
Overall, Smith made 16 appearances, starting in seven contests.
In four of his seven starts, he allowed three or fewer earned runs. In 40 total innings, he struck out 27 batters.
“Carter is one of the most well-liked and well-respected teammates in the locker room,” Cates said. “He is also one of the hardest workers on the team and this award is well-deserved.”
CollegeBaseballInsider.com just completed its 11th season with daily free coverage of NCAA Division-I college baseball, including scores, schedules, composite polls, journals, features and notes. Published in The Messenger 8.23.12 |
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