Smith, Joyner provide offensive spark heading to state tournament

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on July 25, 2014 1:48 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

Garrett Joyner watches as his teammate Zack Smith launches a ball over the right centerfield fence at Southern Wayne High School.

"Bet you can't hit (that car)," Joyner says before Zack's next round of hacks.

"Yeah I can," Smith responds,

It's hard to project how far the first ball would have traveled, as it hits halfway up a net that's more than 30 feet tall behind the outfield fence.

But it was crushed.

"Shoot," Joyner says. "He's one of the best hitters I've seen,"

Smith is somewhat of a batting practice anomaly, possessing power that most college ball players don't have. Which is all the more impressive considering Smith's age.

He's 16.

He's the youngest player on the senior legion roster playing against a lot of teams loaded with college-level talent. And he's the clean-up hitter.

"I enjoy this spot," Smith said. "I guess there's some pressure but not a lot of it. You just go up there and hit. It's fun."

Smith intelligence for the game and his physical tools are far above what most his age possess. He's got lightning quick hands through the strike zone that set him apart from the ordinary 16-year-old. He uses his lower half of his body more than most and has an uncanny knowledge for the strike zone.

It seems like Smith can hit the ball out of the park whenever he wants in batting practice. But that kind of power doesn't carry over to games usually. He's only hit one home run. Instead, Smith possesses strong gap power and an ability to hit the ball to the opposite field.

He prefers to stay short in his swing and hit a line drive to the gap than try to muscle up and hit a fastball out of the yard.

"That's part of who he is as a hitter that makes him so good," Sherrer said. "He doesn't consider himself a home run guy. He makes loud contact. He puts the ball in play hard."

But batting practice is a chance for Smith to show off. He, Joyner and Faucette often have friendly competitions to see who can hit the most home runs in their rounds.

One would think Joyner, the team's leadoff man, would be at a distinct disadvantage. But the Post 11 right fielder has some pop that catches most spectators off guard given his size.

He's second on the team in home runs this season -- with two -- trailing only Ryan Faucette (5). Joyner's hitting for a .348 clip with nine extra base hits.

"Everyone looks at me like I'm a small guy," Joyner said. "But I worked hard in the weight room in high school. It doesn't show but I'm stronger than what I look."

Sherrer added, "when he gets into one it'll go. But when he tries to get big on a ball and hit home runs, it's not gonna work. That's where he gets himself in trouble."

But, like most leadoff men, Joyner causes the most chaos after he's hit the ball.

The natural-born speedster has a knack to turn singles into doubles, and doubles into triples. He's stolen 14 bases in 14 tries this summer.

As Post 11 kicks off its state tournament run today against High Point, a lot of how the offense does will depend on whether Joyner, Smith and the two hitters in between them are hitting or not.

The top four hitters -- Joyner, Kevin Williams, Faucette and Smith -- have driven in 61 percent of Post 11's runs this season. They've scored nearly the same percentage of those runs. Smith has driven in 22 runs and Joyner leads the team with 32 runs scored. They understand they're going to need the bottom half of the order to produce if they're going to make a run.

"It's important that we keep hitting the ball and getting on base and those guys will move us over and get us in," Joyner said.

"And when they get on, that's where my RBI are."