A lot of high school softball players don’t hit three home runs in four seasons. Last Saturday, Jordan Smith did it in just four innings.
Already swinging one of the hottest bats in the state of Indiana, the Whiteland senior took it to another level during the championship game of the Warren Central Invitational, going deep three times and driving in eight runs during a 15-0 rout of Franklin.
"I was definitely feeling good that day," Smith said.
Smith has been feeling good pretty much the entire spring — and even on a Whiteland team loaded with talented hitters, she’s standing out.
After stringing together seven multi-hit games in a row, Smith enters tonight’s regular-season doubleheader against the rival Grizzly Cubs batting .714 with six homers, four doubles, a triple and 23 RBIs. Her OPS (on-base plus slugging) is a cartoonish 2.321.
The Warriors’ shortstop came into the week ranked among the state’s top 15 in nearly every major hitting category, according to MaxPreps.
Particularly amazing coming from a player who hit .185 as a freshman and no longer plays travel softball. But count Whiteland coach Katie Mitchell among those who aren’t at all surprised by Smith’s scorching start.
"Knowing the work that she’s put in since fall, and year after year throughout her high school career … I wouldn’t say surprised, but more just glad that her hard work is paying off," Mitchell said. "She does a lot of stuff on her own. She works hard in the weight room and things that people don’t see."
If nothing else, the fact that Smith doesn’t play travel ball made her even hungrier to succeed this spring. While many of her peers got the chance to play some softball in the summer after the 2020 high school season was canceled, Smith has had to wait all this time to show and prove.
"I think it definitely gave me some more drive to continue to do better, work harder," she said. "I hadn’t played a game in two years."
As Smith has blown up, so have the Warriors, who have won five of six after losing their first two games of the season. Their potent lineup features seven players batting .300 or better; Whiteland has scored 84 runs in its first eight games.
Mitchell believes that much of that success at the plate stems from the players’ desire to do well for one another, not just for themselves. Smith might embody that sentiment more than anyone.
"Her confidence has kind of exploded this year as a senior; I think sometimes you see that happen with girls," Mitchell said. "But she also is just all in — she cares about her teammates, she loves the program, she loves the game of softball, and most of her success comes from wanting to do well for the team. She’s so selfless and just really is enjoying playing ball this year."
"Honestly, I’m really just trying to get base hits for my team, and that’s really just working for me right now," Smith added.
A big reason why Smith is trying to enjoy this season so much is because it’s her last one. While many other seniors have plans to continue playing softball in college, Smith will be putting her bat and glove away.
Her goal is to become a nurse practitioner, and she’ll continue her pursuit of that goal at Ball State in the fall.
All the more reason to make these final moments on the diamond count.
"I really came into this season knowing that this was going to be it, so I might as well make the best out of it," Smith said.
So far, so good.
