Valdosta’s JD Smith signs with Georgia State

Published 11:15 pm Thursday, November 18, 2021

VALDOSTA – Valdosta High pitcher JD Smith is headed to Division I.

The senior signed a letter of intent to attend Georgia State University last week.

Smith, played infield and pitched for the ‘Cats last season, helping lead the team to a 21-13 record and a run to the third round of the GHSA Class 6A Playoffs.

“It feels amazing,” Smith said. “I’m really excited to get up there.”

In 32 games, Smith hit .245 with 26 hits, 15 RBIs and 16 runs scored. He recorded 20 singles, five doubles and a triple with 21 stolen bases and nine walks drawn.

As a pitcher, Smith went 7-4 with 12 starts – posting a 1.52 ERA with 54 strikeouts, 52 hits, 20 walks and 14 earned runs.

Valdosta head baseball coach Brad Porter talked about what Smith’s signing means to the program.

“I’m happy for JD,” Porter said. “The entire Valdosta High baseball program is excited for him. This is an incredible opportunity.”

Though he ultimately chose Georgia State, Smith originally committed to Troy University.

However, in late June, head coach Mark Smartt mutually agreed to part ways after six seasons. With the departure of the entire coaching staff, Smith mulled the possibility of following former Troy assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Shane Gierke to Stetson University.

That is, until he got a call from Georgia State pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Matt Taylor.

The rest was history as Smith signed with the Panthers Nov. 10.

“I was immediately sold with just them and their recruiting and how they treated their players, their facilities,” Smith said. “He gave me a tour that weekend of all their facilities and I was sold with everything. I wanted to commit right then, but I still had some other schools that were talking to me and I wanted to see how my summer would go and then I ended up committing to (Georgia State) right after my last tournament. It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made with baseball.”

According to Smith, Taylor and the Panthers’ coaching staff envision him coming in and making an immediate impact in the rotation.

The Panthers expect to have Smith in the fold as early as next June.

Last fall, Smith decided he want to pitch full-time with his travel ball team and then play shortstop and hit with the ‘Cats.

The move to pitching in travel ball proved to be a pivotal moment in Smith’s development.

“I saw the difference in my ability with pitching and hitting and fielding,” Smith said. “I knew then, I’m a better pitcher than I am anything else and I love pitching way more than I do fielding or hitting. It was pretty much everything I’ve wanted to do since I was 9 years old – be a D-1 pitcher and hopefully go farther than that.”

“With my pitching, I’m very aggressive on the mound,” Smith said of his skillset. “I have three really good pitches that I feel I can throw at any time. I don’t let things that happen in the game affect me. I’m just the same person throughout the game.”

When Smith was in eighth grade, his parents gave him the option to go to Lowndes or Valdosta.

Porter took over the Wildcat baseball program in 2017 following the resignation of longtime coach Bart Shuman. Smith took notice of Porter’s immediate success leading the team and much like his decision to sign with Georgia State, he was sold.

He chose to be a Wildcat.

“I heard of all the good stuff that Coach Porter was doing with the program and all the guys that he was helping,” Smith said. “I made the decision to go there and ever since I’ve gone there, it’s been a great four years.”

Playing for Porter, Smith said, has helped immensely in his ability to focus and succeed on the mound.

“He’s just helped me a lot with not letting outside distractions affect how I pitch and not letting that stuff get in my head and causing me to do bad,” Smith said of Porter. “He’s helped me a lot with that and growing mentally as a player.”

When Smith and the ‘Cats take Bazemore Field in February, there are goals he’d like to accomplish – both personally and as a team.

“I definitely want to get us a region championship,” Smith said. “We haven’t won a region championship in a couple years and I really want to do that. Personally, I want to get Region Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-State. Last year, I was First Team pitcher for Region 1-6A and then I was Second Team All-State for pitcher, so this year, I want to go up in that and be First Team All-State and Pitcher of the Year for the region.”

Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.