Through head baseball coach Stephen Smith’s leadership, the baseball team was named as a finalist for the 2026 Grant Teaff Beyond the Game Team Award from the Grant Teaff Foundation. This organization recognizes high school athletic programs that display excellent leadership and commitment through community service. The team will receive a $1,000 grant to put toward their program.

Coach Smith earned the reward through his impact on his team and exceptional dedication to serving the community.

“I’m just a guy that brings high energy, that has expectations that are high,” Smith said. “And I’m not going to change those values at all.”

Smith holds his players to high standards. His focus is on their excellence in athletics as well as their academics.

“My biggest thing is we’ve been rated one of the top 300 high schools academically the last five years by one of the big national associations,” Smith said. “So for me, it’s how we’re doing not just on the field but our academic stuff.”

One of Smith’s most emphasized teaching points is to never be a quitter, in baseball and in life. He looks forward to his athletes doing great things.

“He motivates us by saying that we all have the capability of playing to our highest standards that we all know how to play by,” senior Henry Rosales said.

One of Smith’s techniques is to make sure that either he or one of the assistant coaches is talking to the players when they come off the field for breaks.

“Sometimes he gives us small talks saying that when we get out onto the field, we know what we should be doing,” Rosales said. “He tells us that if we play how we’re supposed to play, we have a chance of winning every game.”

He encourages his players on the field to be good teammates and communicate while playing. The players in the dugout are expected to cheer for their team on the field.

“He teaches us to be a better person outside of baseball and a better human being when we are done with baseball in the real world,” senior Mason Holleman said.

Smith expects his players to carry good values when they eventually go out into the real world. He wants them to be great team players when they get their own jobs.

“Baseball is a lot like life, and there’s a lot of failure in it,” Smith said. “And it’s how you respond to that failure that creates who you are as your character.”