Conversations with Midcoast collegiate athletes

Belfast native Matt Smith reflects on college, and strong Husson baseball season

Mon, 07/23/2018 - 10:00pm

For Belfast native and Belfast Area High School 2015 graduate Matt P. Smith, joining the Husson University baseball team was a no-brainer. 

Smith opted to join the Eagles due to the university’s proximity to home, the major he wanted to pursue, and the fact that Nick Arthers, one of Smith’s former coaches, played collegiate ball at Husson.

Now, Smith is opening up about his time at Husson and providing advice for the next group of Midcoast student-athletes hoping to extend their athletic careers by making the leap to collegiate athletics. Smith joins a series of other Midcoast collegiate student-athletes who graduated from area schools and are willing to share their experiences with Penbaypilot.com. (See sidebar for more interviews)

When joining the Eagles, Smith took with him three years of varsity baseball experience from Belfast Area, in addition to two years of varsity wrestling and three years of varsity football. 

He collected a few accolades with the Belfast Lions, including first team all-conference offensive line in football and was the school’s male Athlete of the Year his senior year. 

“It’s an award voted on by the coaches of all the sports in the school so it was really cool to be recognized by all of them for my hard work throughout high school,” Smith said.  

Smith said in an interview he anticipates a Fall 2019 graduation with a degree in elementary education. Following his graduation, Smith is eyeing the possibility of returning to the Belfast area to teach and coach. 

Strong family ties is something Smith repeatedly emphasized as being important to him, especially in his pursuits. 

“My family, they have always been extremely supportive of me, whether it be in sports or in school,” Smith said. “I use that to motivate myself to always try to work hard and make them proud. Baseball was my dad’s favorite sport, and I loved watching and playing it for as early as I can remember.”

In the future, Smith hopes he will be able to accomplish two major goals in life — one on the field and one off the field. 

On the field, Smith hopes to build on a strong junior year and earn a role as a weekday starter for the Eagles. He will start his senior season with a 4.34 career ERA. 

Smith’s junior season was his best one yet and saw him appear in six contests, allowing 12 hits, four earned runs, four runs, one walk and capturing seven strikeouts in 12.1 innings for a 2.92 ERA. Smith also earned his first collegiate start and boasts a collegiate career 1-0 record as a pitcher. 

In his freshman season, Smith appeared in two games and allowed three hits, three runs, one earned run and one walk in 1.1 innings of work. His freshman year ERA was 6.75. 

In four games his sophomore year, Smith allowed five hits, five runs, four earned runs, two walks and fanned two batters in five innings of work for a 7.2 ERA. 

Meanwhile, off the field, Smith hopes to visit Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, with his father.

“My dad and I have talked about going [to Cooperstown] the past few summers so hopefully we can find time to make a trip down there soon,” Smith said.

In his downtime, Smith enjoys playing basketball, golf, or just about any other sport since Smith believes, “just doing something active and competitive is always fun.” 

Advice for Midcoast student-athletes seeking to play collegiate athletics?

Smith suggested high school students get in contact with college coaches “as early as possible, [go] to prospect camps” and do “anything to help get you noticed” by the college coaches. 

What about advice for anyone who is visiting the Midcoast for the first time and needs help deciding what to do in the area? 

“If you ever come to the Belfast area you should definitely check out Rollie’s Bar and Grill and the Breakwater in Rockland is real nice, too,” Smith said. 

As for a favorite quote, Smith turns to the fact that, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” 


Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.