Collegiate Times

Sophomore weekend starter Mathew Price also feels Smalling will be a difficult out this season.

“I love him,” Price said. “He’s the toughest kid to pitch against when throwing against him live. He’s scrappy, he knows the zone, he won’t swing at the pitch unless it’s the pitch he wants. He’s gonna be a huge addition to the team.”

Even though this will be his first season in a Tech uniform, by taking on a leadership role, Smalling will be making contributions to the team that go beyond the box score.

“I just try to do everything right and lead by example when I can,” Smalling said. “I just try to come here every day and work hard and take some of the younger guys under my wing when I can.”

Smalling’s coaches and teammates have noticed his leadership by example, as well.

“He’s stepped right into it,” Hughes said. “It depends, you watch someone’s approach to how they go about their business, and you know it’s the right way, and then you’ve got younger guys doing the same thing; that’s leadership. He’ll speak up a little bit. I wouldn’t call him an extrovert, but he’s not afraid to say what he wants to say.”

“I think everybody respects him a lot, respects what he does, because he’s always here working hard, and he has had that SEC experience,” Sosnoskie said. “I think he’s definitely gotten everybody’s respect in the locker room.”

Best of all for Tech, Smalling says he is not focused on the draft and he simply wants to win ballgames any way he can.

“I’m just gonna go out there, and any time in the lineup, I’m going to help the team win any way I can, whether it’s defensively, offensively, just the little things,” Smalling said.

“All he wants to do is win, and all he wants to do is win for Virginia Tech,” Hughes said. “That’s why I love him.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Mar 2 issue of the Collegiate Times.