Weston Smith saved his best for last.
In his final game at Hurricane High School, Smith more than did his part to add to the hardware collection within the Redskins’ baseball program by pitching a complete game three-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 6-1 victory against Morgantown in the inaugural Class AAAA title game at GoMart Ballpark.
“All the other performances were usually great, but that last one definitely takes the cake,” Smith said a guest on CityNet Statewide Sportsline. “That’s the game you dream of playing ever since you’re a kid and to have an opportunity to pitch in it and to do that well and win, it was a dream come true.”
A West Virginia University signee, Smith proved why he’s exactly that.
Hurricane began the game with consecutive errors for its only two defensive miscues in the contest. Then came one of Morgantown’s three hits on a bunt single that created a bases loaded situation before Smith had recorded an out. The right-handed pitcher kept his cool and struck out a pair in between surrendering the only run of a dominant outing on a groundout.
Smith surrendered another infield single in the second, and when he returned to toe the rubber of the third, the Redskins had gained a 2-1 lead after three hits in their half of the second.
That would be all the support needed for Smith, this year’s Gatorade West Virginia Baseball Player of the Year.
From the third inning on, he allowed a baserunner in only the sixth, while striking out a pair in each of those five frames. With the Redskins in front by five in the sixth, the Mohigans threatened to draw closer following a leadoff single — their only hit that left the infield — and the lone base-on-balls Smith issued all night.
Both baserunners moved into scoring position via stolen bases with one out. Smith followed with a pair of strikeouts against two batters he threw a total of one ball to.
Throughout the memorable performance, Smith consistently had the Mohigans’ lineup fooled by utilizing an effective slider and curve ball.
“I’ve always had a pretty good curve ball ever since I started throwing it. Eighth grade into high school, I tried to develop a slider,” Smith said. “I’ve always had them, they’ve always been good, but being consistent with them was the new goal for this year. That’s what I spent all winter on was just trying to be consistent with the breaking pitches. I don’t think it’s so much as a rely on, but it’s almost like a safety net and I always know they’re going to be there, because of all the work I’ve put in.”
Smith says he made major strides with the slider in his senior season, which began occurring in an unusual way.
“It’s kind of a funny story. Our high school pitching coach initially taught me the grip and we discussed how to throw it a little bit,” Smith said. “Over my sophomore and junior years, I was kind of struggling to throw it with that grip, so I tinkered and messed around with stuff. Going into my senior year, I was playing catch one day trying to throw sliders and I went back to that grip, because something just felt right about it. I don’t know what happened, but it just clicked.”
It was the Redskins’ fifth baseball championship and fourth in head coach Brian Sutphin’s tenure.
“He is an animal,” Sutphin said of Smith. “We just didn’t make some plays behind him. What I really love about Weston is watching him mature, not only as a player but as a person. He’s got everything now. He is mentally tough.”
It marked Smith’s second state championship as he was part of Hurricane’s Class AAA title-winning team in 2022, though this time around, Smith played a far bigger role, finishing his senior season with an 11-0 record and a 1.06 ERA.
“It was definitely an experience,” Smith said. “You’re kind of preparing for it and you kind of know what you’re going to have all day that day, but just to accomplish it was pretty awesome. It was definitely late when I finally started to settle down.”
In addition to his role as a standout pitcher, Smith was the No. 3 hitter in a stacked Redskins’ lineup and hit .342 for the season.
Although he was 0-for-4 in the title game, one day earlier, Smith finished 2-for-4 and had perhaps the most important hit with a two-run single in a 5-3 semifinal win over Hedgesville.
That will almost certainly be Smith’s last hit in a competitive baseball game for the foreseeable future as he will strictly pitch as a Mountaineer.
“At the end of the day, I know I’m a great pitcher and to be able to fully focus on that I think is going to be an advantage for me that I’ve kind of taken away from myself,” Smith said, “but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”
For Smith and Hurricane’s six other seniors, it was a desirable ending to successful prep careers.
“Everyone is pretty much going in a different direction,” Smith said. “All of us have been great friends through elementary school and we all played Little League together. A bunch of us won the Little League State Tournament when we were 12 back in 2019, so it was cool to win this one as well.”
Smith will not play competitively again until the fall. In the meantime, he’ll use the summer to continue adding strength and improve on his conditioning.
“This summer, it’s not necessarily a shutdown,” Smith said, “but more like a training and build-up phase for the fall.”