Reeltown’s JaMarkius Smith makes a name for himself on the baseball field
High School Baseball
JaMarkius Smith has been having a stellar freshman season for the Reeltown Rebels and has proven to be quite a versatile player as he plays several different positions for the Rebels. You can see Smith playing anywhere from shortstop, centerfield, leftfield, or pitching for the rebels, but it’s on the mound where he’s seen the most success this season.
“He is a special talent for sure. He’s grown a lot as far as his maturity and how he approaches the game and work. That’s been his biggest accomplishment this year is the fact that he’s really embraced that work and the maturity of the spotlight that’s he’s in and balancing that ability and the work ethic,” says Head Coach Matt Johnson.
One of his exceptional performances this season came against Reeltown rival Thornsby. In that game Smith (who was pitching) allowed no hits, only allowed one walk, and struck out 17 of the 22 batters he faced at the plate during his nearly 7 innings of work.
“I couldn’t let nobody in my head, I was zoned out, I was in my own world,” says Smith.
“He really commanded the zone he was really really good with his fast ball that day and that’s what everybody talks about his is fast ball but he’s got two really good other pitches, but he really commanded his fast ball that day and was running it up there and had a lot of control and that paid off,” says Johnson.
Smith has lofty goals for the remainder of his high school career that including reaching 99 miles an hour. Then after high school, Smith would like to play baseball for Auburn and then says his dream would be getting drafted by the Atlanta Braves to play alongside his favorite player, Ronald Acuna Jr. But, until he reaches those goals Smith intends to keep up the hard work in order to get there.
“His goals and ambitions are extremely attainable you know were talking out the highest goals possible for an athlete and that’s something that’s extremely attainable for him and you know if he continues to grow that’s something that’s not going to suprise anybody,” says Johnson.
