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SPORTS
Spring Valley's Smith inks with West Virginia St.
Cody Smith of Spring Valley sprints to first base during the baseball game against Cabell Midland on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at Cabell Midland High School.
Purchase this photoSPRING VALLEY -- As Cody Smith watched his brothers make the transition from high school to college his dream was to follow in their footsteps.
Smith turned that into reality when the Spring Valley High School infielder signed to play baseball at West Virginia State University in Institute, W.Va., an NCAA Division II member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
West Virginia State finished the 2010 season with a 32-16 record and reached the semis of the Atlantic Regional.
It was a dream come true for Smith, who has followed West Virginia State coach Cal Bailey's program since his older brother, Shayne, went to play for the Yellow Jackets earlier in the decade.
"He's a legend -- one of the best around," Smith said of Bailey. "Look at how many games he's won. I'm thrilled to get to play for him because I've always had my eye on playing at State."
Smith is the last of three brothers that played at Spring Valley. Shayne played for the Timberwolves before transferring to Wayne High School and Garrett Smith also played for the Timberwolves.
All three went on to play at the next level, and Spring Valley coach Jim Hensley joked that it will be difficult to get accustomed to "one of the Smith boys" not being on the field for him next year.
Hensley also said Cody Smith has that special characteristic Bailey has made a living off of.
"You give me 10 Cody Smiths and we'll win a lot of ballgames," Hensley said. "If that kid was 6-foot-2, we might be talking about him being a Division I player. He's five-foot-nothing, but his heart is huge and he gives 110 percent every time he goes out on that field."
Smith is walking into a perfect situation with the Yellow Jackets. There is an opening at the shortstop position for West Virginia State, meaning the Spring Valley product will compete immediately for the job.
While competing for a starting position in college is in his near future, Smith reflected on his time with Spring Valley during the signing ceremony.
With Westest going on, most of the seniors had finished class, and two of Smith's closest friends -- George Brody and Zach Wellman -- came back to share in the special day.
Smith said he was happy to know all of them were moving on to collegiate athletics. Brody and Wellman are walking on to play football at Marshall University.
"It's great to have been here and done as well as we all did," Smith said. "Zach (Wellman), (George) Brody and I have been playing together forever and to see all of us moving on to play sports is great."
During his senior campaign, Smith finished with a .378 batting average, six home runs and 22 RBs. He added eight doubles and three triples from his leadoff spot and stole 14 bases.
