Isaac Smith was a little surprised when a member of the Bradley University baseball coaching staff approached him after he participated in the White Sox’s Area Code tryout earlier this year in Chicago.
He was even more surprised when those same coaches showed up to watch him play in two other high-profile events later that summer. “I didn’t have a clue they were there,” Smith said of the Chicago workout. “They told me they recognized my name and knew that I was from Richmond. They came down to Cincinnati and watched me play and I had idea they were there either. They came to Alabama to watch me play, then after that (Bradley head coach) Elvis (Dominguez) came to my house and wanted me to come up on a visit.” And once Smith visited Bradley, the Madison Central senior knew the school was a perfect fit for him. On Wednesday, Smith signed a national letter of intent with Bradley. He picked the Peoria, Ill., school over Purdue. The senior was also drawing some interest from Kentucky as well. “He loved Bradley from the first moment he saw it,” said Donya Smith, Isaac’s mother. “It’s a smaller school, but it’s Division I baseball. And he’s going to get an engineering degree in a smaller class room setting then he would have at Purdue.” Even though Smith had never really considered Bradley until earlier this year, he already had several strong connections to the school. Dominguez had been the head coach at Eastern Kentucky University for seven seasons before leaving for the Missouri Valley Conference school following the 2008 season. Bradley assistant coach John Corbin was also on Dominguez’s staff at EKU and Madison Central assistant coach Nick Barte played for Dominguez at EKU. Smith’s family also met with Bradley President Joanne Glasser, who was the president at EKU for six years, during their trip to Peoria. “It’s just kind of nice having that connection,” Donya Smith said. “He’s going to be six hours away from home, so it’s nice to have a connection with people up there and Elvis is a great guy and a great coach.” Dominguez first saw Smith play when the Madison County native was a member of the Richmond Little League. Smith participated in the annual skills camps organized by the EKU baseball program with the help of Phyllis Adams of the Richmond Little League. Even after he left EKU, the Bradley coach kept track of the Madison Central standout. “We had been on him for a while,” Dominguez said. “Once we identified that he could fill a need for us, then we definitely wanted him. He’s a very gifted athlete and talented baseball player who will make an impact on our program as a freshman. He is one of the most talented players we saw all summer.” Smith started to show Division I potential several years ago while playing on traveling teams. He was a standout with the Richmond Heat and more recently has played for a team based in Danville. “I think the biggest key to Isaac’s success was his travel team experience,” Donya Smith said. “He’s faced good pitching since he was 12 years old. He’s been playing with guys who can play at a higher level since he was 12 years old and that’s definitely made a difference.” Smith broke into the starting lineup at Madison Central as a freshman and was a full-time starter as a sophomore. As a junior, the catcher/outfielder helped lead the Indians to a 29-10 record and a Top-10 ranking. Smith was named to the 11th Region All-Tournament Team and was selected to play in the Kentucky East-West All-Star Game. “He’s just a great athlete and competitor,” Central coach Steve Roof said of Smith. “He’s a great student. Elvis is really high on him.” Smith averaged .440 with 28 stolen bases this summer playing for the Morse Mustangs, a traveling team, but really turned heads with his performances at several workouts and also in USA Baseball’s National Team Identifica-tion Series. The Central senior was one of only 18 players from across the country selected to play on the USA Stars team at an event held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Smith ran the fastest 60-yard dash of any player at the event. “That was probably the best experience I’ve had because I got to meet guys from Utah, Hawaii and Philadelphia and they could all flat-out play,” Smith said. “You see 90 mile per hour pitching every day when you are there. You want to play at the most elite level so you can get ready for college.” Even though he’s been Central’s starting catcher the past two seasons, Smith will likely move to the outfield in college. “This summer he primarily played in the outfield and he will most likely play center field for us this year,” Roof said. “With his athletic ability, he will be at outfielder at the next level.” Smith is the 19th Central baseball player to sign a college scholarship since 2001 — four of which signed with Division I schools. Nathan Hutchinson, Richmond Register (11/11/2010)
