Prep Baseball Report

Alex Smith commits to the Naval Academy





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By John Nolan

Assistant Director of Scouting

Mountain View catcher Alex Smith has committed to attend the Naval Academy in the fall of 2016. Smith is third member of Mountain View’s 2016 class to commit to play baseball after graduation, joining battery mate Dylan Hall (RHP, Virginia Tech) and Jacob Pollock (MIF, Shippensburg). Smith’s leadership behind the plate and bat helped key the Wildcats’ strong 2015 season, which saw them win the Conference 15 Championship and advance to the 5A Northern Region semifinals before being eliminated by eventual 5A State Champion Stone Bridge. Mountain View will be bringing back a talented core in 2016 and should be a dangerous squad again.

Smith is a 6-foot, 175 pound catcher that hits from a tall, athletic stance. He has minimal movement in his set-up and uses an inward turn to create his load, with a short stride and good balance. He has a short, line drive approach. Defensively, he throws from an over-the-top arm slot and his velocity was 74 from behind the plate in November at the 2014 Top Prospect Games. He was athletic and quick behind the plate and showed the ability to block and that he is an above average receiver. His pop times in November were between 1.99 and 2.08.

When he arrives at the Naval Academy, Smith should be able to help the Midshipmen out immediately as a defensive catcher who can shut the running game down late in games while being a good blocker and receiver who can handle late-inning power stuff well. As he develops, Smith has the ability to become a good defensive catcher who can hit for a decent average and some gap power with a line-drive approach that uses the entire field.

Congratulations Alex!